We already knew that Massachusetts is something of a sanctuary state with at least eight sanctuary cities. Officials there love them some illegal aliens, but they have a special affinity for the ones who commit the most heinous of crimes. Today, we learned just how bad it really is.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday that throughout the Month of May, they arrested nearly 1,500 people who are in the country illegally. Many of them were affiliated with transnational organized crime and various gangs, like MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Trinitarios, and 18th Street. Around 800 had criminal records in the U.S., and just under 300 of them had deportation orders from a judge but failed to actually leave the country.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting field office director Patricia H. Hyde had this to say about what the government agency called “Operation Patriot”:
Make no mistake: Every person that we arrested was breaking our immigration laws, but most of these individuals had significant criminality. They are criminal offenders who victimized innocent people and traumatized entire communities — murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child sex predators and members of violent transnational criminal gangs. Some were convicted of violent crimes in the United States, and others were wanted for criminality in their native countries. All made the mistake of attempting to subvert justice by hiding out in Massachusetts.
ICE director Todd Lyons also spoke on the topic on Monday:
At the beginning of May, ICE and its federal and state partners launched a whole-of-government effort to remove dangerous criminal aliens from all over the commonwealth… what I can tell you is this: That hundreds of brave officers and agents risk their lives every day, here in the commonwealth, to remove danger of criminals from Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Lawrence, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and several other communities across the commonwealth.
A significant amount of the criminal aliens that are arrested by the teams were drug traffickers, sex offenders, murderers, and foreign fugitives trying to evade justice in their home countries. It’s long past time to remove these dangerous criminals from our communities. What we need to do is prevent them from terrorizing family, friends, and our neighbors.
But the bottom line is that ICE and its federal partners wouldn’t be able to conduct large-scale operations like this without the partnership you see up here. But more importantly, if sanctuary cities would change their policies and turn these violent criminal aliens over to us into our custody, instead of releasing them into the public, we would not have to go out to the communities and do this.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons announces that Operation Patriot has resulted in the arrest of 1,500+ criminal illegals in Massachusetts — with a significant portion of them being criminal illegal immigrant killers, drug traffickers, sex offenders, and foreign fugitives. pic.twitter.com/B91kuEJi6j
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 2, 2025
So, who exactly are these people who found safe harbor in Massachusetts? Let me share some examples with you. These are some pretty nasty dudes.
There’s the 48-year-old man from El Salvador who has a history of charges, including aggravated rape of a child by force, indecent assault and battery on a person under 14, and open and gross lewdness.
What about the 69-year-old registered sex offender from Uruguay who was “convicted of indecent assault and battery on a 7-year-old girl”?
Or the 32-year-old fugitive from Brazil who has an active Interpol Red Notice “for drug trafficking and drug trafficking association”? He fled his home country on a motorcycle while throwing bricks of cocaine at local police.
Or the 37-year-old from Honduras “whose most recent arrest in Fall River was for rape, indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over, witness intimidation, and kidnapping of a minor by relative”? He has other arrests in Massachusetts for lewd and lascivious conduct and sexual conduct for a fee. He also has several convictions in Massachusetts for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. Additionally, he has been convicted for operating under the influence of alcohol and operating while intoxicated in Iowa, where he served a year in prison.
There’s the 24-year-old from Brazil who has an active Interpol Red Notice because he’s wanted for murder in his country.
Another one from Brazil: This time it’s a 29-year-old “charged in Edgartown with aggravated rape of a child by force, possession of child pornography and dissemination of obscene material. He has and additional arrest in Edgartown for assault and battery (family) and kidnapping.”
And then there’s the 40-year-old Guatemalan whom ICE arrested in the city of Lynn. He’s been “charged with assault and battery dangerous weapon (a hammer), threatening to commit crime, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (a vehicle), assault and battery on a family member, strangulation/suffocation and intimidation of witness.” Sounds like an upstanding guy, right?
You get the idea. The fake news media makes it sound like ICE only goes after grandparents and life-saving doctors, but this is the truth. These are the people who have no business living in our country and wreaking havoc on our communities. These are the people the left defends daily. The only reason many of them are even here is that they got in trouble in their home countries and fled. The others came here to commit crimes. Why should they receive sanctuary here? To quote Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “Are we crazy? What other country in the world would allow this?”
According to ICE, “All aliens detained during Operation Patriot will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of their removal proceedings or their deportation from the United States.” I’m not sure how long that will take, but I bet half the Democrats in Congress are lining up their flights to Central and South America so they can go have margaritas with these guys once they’re deported.
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