August 16, 2024 6:39 pm
Federal officers at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement increasingly arrested serious criminalscharged with violent crimes within the United States after being released into the country from the borderduring the Biden administration.
Historically, illegal immigrants whom ICE has arrested within the U.S. have been individuals wanted in their home country in connection to serious crimes there or have been in the U.S. for a number of years and have criminal records that range from less serious to somewhat serious offenses, such as a DUI and robbery.
In numerous cases, people were arrested by ICE after being bailed or bonded out of local jail. ICE was not able to immediately take custody of the detainee when they were let out of jail in the community because local ordinances in these “sanctuary” cities bar local police from turning over people in custody to federal law enforcement.
A 26-year-old Haitian migrant arrested in the aggravated rape of a child in Rockland, Massachusetts, was arrested in March by local police. ICE asked the police to detain Cory Bernard Alvarez until officers could transfer him to federal custody. The Plymouth County Superior Court of Brockton denied the ICE request and released Alvarez on a $500 bond. ICE arrested Alvarez near his home in Brockton, Massachusetts, this week.
The Rhode Island Department of Corrections declinedto hold a suspect that ICE requested be detained until federal police could take custody. Rhode Island authorities released a man in custody for fentanyl smuggling in Rhode Island from custody in July.
Dominican citizen Yohan Perez-Chala was arrested in May for fentanyl trafficking in Cranston, Rhode Island. He entered the U.S. illegally at the southern border but was not caught by Border Patrol when he entered and made his way to New England. ICE arrested him in Cranston last month.
The Connecticut Department of Corrections also recently denied an ICE detainer request and let back onto the street a 36-year-old Peruvian man charged in Hartford, Connecticut, with assault, as well as threatening and unlawful restraint.
Irving Gustavo Escate-Huarancca entered the U.S. illegally at the border near San Luis, Arizona, on Dec. 11, 2023. Border authorities released him into the country, unaware that he had been convicted of aggravated robbery in Peru and sentenced to 11 years in prison. ICE arrested Escate-Huarancca in Hartford in mid-July.
“He clearly represents a threat to our neighborhoods that we cannot allow to continue,” said Lyons. “ERO Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our public by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from New England.”
Colombian citizen Elkin Arturo Yarce-Munera was released into the country from the border town of Brownville, Texas in May 2022. The following January he was arrested in Boston for the assault and battery of a family member or household member.
The East Boston District Court convicted Yarce in December 2023 but declined to turn him over to ICE. ICE arrested Yarce and found he had fake Social Security and U.S. permanent resident documents.
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