
ICE detains an immigrant during its six-day operation in mid-March.Border czar Tom Homan, who had promised to “bring hell” to Boston, said he made the visit to the city last Tuesday. This comes after months of contentious flame-throwing between him and Mayor Michelle Wu, who sat before Congress to defend her city’s support of immigrants.
Homan said officers detained 370 immigrants in Boston and the surrounding area during a six-day operation. He said the effort was led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and included the FBI; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Marshals Service; Diplomatic Security Service; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
“I made a promise at CPAC that I was going to Boston after reading about numerous illegal alien child rapists walking the streets of Boston and Massachusetts. ICE had to find and arrest these illegal alien rapists because Massachusetts and Boston are sanctuaries that refuse to cooperate with ICE,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday. “These officers and agents made the neighborhoods of Boston and Massachusetts much safer.”
Law enforcement officials said they seized methamphetamines, fentanyl, cocaine and three firearms during the operation.
“Everyone
should agree that we cannot and will not tolerate individuals who not
only violate our immigration laws but then commit crimes that endanger
our communities. Those who enter and remain in this country unlawfully
are breaking the law,” said U.S. Attorney for the District of
Massachusetts Leah B. Foley.
ICE
claims 205 of those arrested had significant criminal convictions or
charges. Six were foreign fugitives facing charges or convictions for
murder, drug trafficking, organized crime and money laundering.
“We
simply can’t permit violent and dangerous criminals to enter or remain
in the United States under false pretenses, with unknown allegiances and
intentions. It’s a direct threat to public safety and our national
security,” said Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston
Division.
Homan said
the Massachusetts arrests included individuals linked to the notorious
MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Trinitarios and 18th Street gangs.
Last
week, the federal government put 238 immigrants on a flight to El
Salvador, claiming they were from the Tren de Aragua gang. Attorneys and
relatives have argued that some of those people were targeted because
of tattoos that aren’t related to gangs. It is unclear if any of those
immigrants flown to El Salvador were arrested in Boston, and ICE has not
responded to GBH News’ request for comment.
It
is unclear what charges the additional 165 immigrants are facing. A
number of undocumented immigrants without criminal records have been
detained in Massachusetts, running counter to ICE’s “worst first”
effort.
GBH News was
on the scene talking to community members about what they’d seen in the
ICE arrests in Chelsea last week, including three painters whose
supervisor said are undocumented.
La
Colaborativa, a social services organization, closed its doors
temporarily that day to avoid arrests of visitors during its
programming.
The Trump
administration has routinely pointed to Boston as a source of detainers
not being honored and people with criminal convictions and charges being
released into the community.
However,
the ICE Boston field office covers the entirety of New England, not
just Boston proper. In the congressional hearing, arrests in Great
Barrington, Lowell and Framingham were referred to as “Boston.”
ICE
did not share locations of most of the arrests from the March
operation. ICE listed 14 detained individuals who had significant
criminal charges and convictions against them; two were from Boston and
the rest were from other parts of the state, including Worcester and New
Bedford. The others with criminal charges didn’t have names or
locations listed.
Still, the announcement from Homan was tailored to address Wu, with Boston mentioned six times, and no other city named.
In
his post on X Monday, Homan said there is “much more to do, but it will
be done!” He added that Wu and Gov. Maura Healey should be “ashamed of
supporting sanctuary policies.”
In
a statement, a spokesperson for the city reiterated Wu’s claim that
Boston is the safest major city in the country and that “we partner with
all levels of law enforcement to prevent crime and hold perpetrators
accountable.”
“Given
that we have no information on these arrests,” the spokesperson said,
“we cannot confirm how many took place within Boston Police jurisdiction
or in other cities, and we cannot confirm whether every individual was
lawfully detained. We strongly urge ICE to release information on all
the individuals detained in order to ensure transparency.”
This article originally appeared on WGBH.org