Photo: ICE agents and federal law enforcement partners arrest an illegal immigrant. (ICE)
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just wrapped up its largest operation to date, arresting 1,461 illegal immigrants in Massachusetts during the month of May.
“Operation Patriot,” which ended on May 31, was launched in direct response to sanctuary policies in Massachusetts, officials said during a press conference on Monday.
Around 790 of those arrested during the operation had criminal convictions or charges, and 277 individuals had final deportation and removal orders but refused to comply, remaining in the country illegally.
ICE agents in Boston partnered with the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the ATF, and other federal agencies for the monthlong operation.
Operation Patriot included simultaneous enforcement in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, where they arrested around 40 illegal immigrants, including at least one child sex predator and a member of a transnational gang.
“Tidal Wave” was previously ICE’s largest operation, which resulted in 1,120 arrests in Florida. “Operation Patriot,” officials said, was much more difficult to execute because federal agents didn’t receive cooperation from local jurisdictions throughout Massachusetts. Those jurisdictions refused to honor immigration detainer requests to turn over the offenders, according to acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
“Not only did they enter our country illegally but they were released back into our community by elected officials and sanctuary jurisdictions that did not want to turn these individuals over to ICE,” Lyons told reporters.
ICE Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde explained that federal agents targeted criminals in the monthlong operation, but said that if those agents came across someone who is in the country illegally while pursuing criminal aliens, agents also arrested them.
That’s what happened to Marcelo Gomes, 18, who was arrested when agents were actually looking for his father. Gomes was not the target of the investigation, Hyde said, but agents are forced to “go out and look for people” when sanctuary jurisdictions don’t cooperate with ICE.
Agents pulled over Gomes in his vehicle on Saturday morning because it was registered in his father’s name.
“He’s 18 years old and he’s unlawfully in this country,” Hyde said. “And, unfortunately, we had to go to Milford to look for someone else, and we came across him. And he was arrested. ”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey expressed frustration over Gomes’s arrest and the federal enforcement operation.
“I’m demanding immediate answers from ICE about the arrest of a Milford High School student yesterday, where he is and how his due process is being protected,” Healey wrote in a post on X. “The Trump Administration continues to create fear in our communities, and it’s making us all less safe.”
Gomes currently remains in ICE custody.
According to officials on Monday, all of the illegal immigrants captured during Operation Patriot will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of their removal proceedings, which may result in their deportation from the United States.
The monthlong operation is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration and immediately deport criminal illegal immigrants.
“When someone who is here illegally chooses to engage in crime, when they bring fentanyl into our neighborhoods, sell firearms to gangs, and or assume false identities to collect benefits intended for vulnerable Americans, these are not immigrants, they are criminals and they will be treated as such,” U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley told reporters.
During the 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to carry out the largest deportations in U.S. history through enforcement of immigration law. Trump, on his first day in office, signed an executive order directing federal agencies to enforce the laws, prioritizing criminal illegal immigrants deemed significant threats to national security and public safety.
From NTD News
