Boston ICE agents had to arrest a Brazilian illegal immigrant accused of rape and extortion twice because of sanctuary policies in the state of Massachusetts.
An ICE statement released last week said Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations officials arrested 29-year-old Agnaldo Moreira da Cruz for the second time in December.
This came after officials in Barnstable County, in Cape Cod of Massachusettstwice ignored ICE detainer requests against Moreira da Cruz.
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June 2, 2022: ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation inside the United States. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
According to ICE’s statement, Barnstable County Superior Court not only ignored his detainer requests, but also violated the terms of his own agreement by refusing to return Moreira da Cruz to ICE, after having obtained through an agreement. “Writ of Habeas Corpus”.
Moreira da Cruz was initially arrested in August 2023 by police in Yarmouth. He was indicted in December 2023 and held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility, which is run by the The Barnstable Sheriff’s Officeuntil he was released on June 18, 2024, despite the fact that there is an ICE detainer against him.
ICE tracked down and arrested Moreira da Cruz several months later on October 16th and, after receiving a petition for habeas corpus, he had to return to Barnstable Superior Court again on November 27th. on the 5th of December.
Moreira da Cruz is accused of a series of violent crimes, including rape and extortion with threat of injury.
This split shows Mass. Gov. Maura Healey and a group of migrants at the southern border. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images and Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
“This is not someone you want to release into the community, but twice our detainees have been ignored,” ICE said. “These decisions have repeatedly placed Massachusetts citizens at risk of being victimized by an alleged dangerous criminal.”
Asked why the ICE detainer was not honored, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Probate Court sent Fox News Digital a copy of the policy followed by the court, which is based on a precedent set by a ruling of the 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Court Supreme Court called “London vs Commonwealth”.
The policy states that probation officers “do not have the authority to detain an individual based solely” on ICE detainers and those immigrants subject to these requests “shall be treated and processed in the same manner that all other individuals who come before the court are processed and dealt with.
The policy also states that no court officer or employee may “call or otherwise initiate communication with any ICE officer” to notify them that an immigrant is in court custody and that “no ICE officer shall be permitted to take an individual into custody by virtue of a civil immigration detainer in a courtroom.”
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials seeking to arrest an illegal immigrant with a criminal record raid a home on Thursday, September 8, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Barnstable Sheriff Donna Buckley told Fox News Digital that Lunn vs. Commonwealth states that “it is unlawful for state and local law enforcement agencies to arrest or detain persons solely on the basis of an ICE detainer, beyond the time that the individual would otherwise have the right to be . released from the custody of the State”.
“Massachusetts sheriffs operate within the scope and parameters of federal, state and local laws and regulations,” Buckley said. “Therefore, sheriffs are required to follow commonwealth law, and therefore cannot detain an individual based solely on an ICE detainer request, if that detained individual is not subject to separate judicial detainer orders” .
“Sheriffs don’t make the law. Sheriffs enforce the law,” he added.
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Governor Maura Healey of Massachusetts said the state has reached its limit in terms of shelter space. (AP Photo/Steve LeBlanc)
Meanwhile, Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and law and policy expert at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital that although Massachusetts courts have the final say in cases like ‘and this, “it is important to note that it is not necessarily the last final. word”.
“Immigration is the ultimate federal issue,” Arthur said. “When states intervene in that process, they’re really entering an area where they have no expertise based on anecdote and speculation.”
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He noted that states and localities receive billions of dollars in federal funding each year, which can be dependent on compliance with federal immigration authorities.
“On the one hand, they are demanding money from the federal government, and on the other hand, they are telling the federal government that they will not help them in a key function of government,” he said. “Congress can always put whatever conditions they want on funding, and this is a reasonable condition for them to put in place.”
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L- The Southern Border of the United States R – President Trump (Getty Images)
Arthur said he anticipates the Trump administration and incoming border czar Tom Homan will move quickly to push Congress to put such stipulations in place.
“The biggest problem with this is that it puts ICE enforcement and removal officers in great danger because, instead of taking custody of a criminal in a safe place, a local jail or a state prison, they have to go out on the street. They have to find that person in their house, and that puts their life in danger,” he explained. “It’s also important to note that this is a community safety issue.”
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“If we really want to keep our streets safe,” he continued, “the best way to do that is to get criminals off the street. And really, that’s what should happen, and I anticipate you’ll see a movement. especially under a second Trump administration, to make that happen.”
Despite the actions of Barnstable County officials, Moreira da Cruz is currently in ICE custody, awaiting immigration and criminal proceedings.
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2025-01-13 22:12:00
