Robson Martins Da Silva, a Brazilian national living in Massachusetts, was charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Local sanctuary policies meant state and local law enforcement wouldn't help federal agents find him. ICE found him anyway.
He was one of 82.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, working out of the Boston Field Office, conducted a three-day operation in the third week of September and arrested 82 criminal illegal immigrants across Massachusetts — a state whose elected officials have built their entire immigration brand around non-cooperation with federal law enforcement. The operation went forward without local help.
Joseph Sher, ICE Boston Field Office Director, didn't sugarcoat it. "Time and time again, sanctuary politicians in Massachusetts have made the dumbfounding choice to prioritize dangerous criminal illegal aliens rather than their law-abiding American citizens," Sher said.
The rap sheets tell the story the sanctuary advocates would prefer you not read. Joao Manuel Matos Ferreira, a Portuguese national, was facing two counts of assault with a motor vehicle, two counts of indecent exposure, and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Cristopher Paul Auqui Cajas from Ecuador — assault charges. Ronan Rodrigues Dos Santos from Brazil — assault on family and household members, strangulation or suffocation. Marlon Alexis Portillo-Garcia from Honduras — assault with a dangerous weapon.
Then there's Ricardo Faustin from Haiti: five counts of extortion by threat of injury and six counts of larceny over $1,200 by false pretense. Massachusetts was sheltering a man running what amounts to a one-man crime spree across multiple statutes.
Raphael De Oliveira Batista, another Brazilian national, had already been removed from the country once. He came back. Massachusetts welcomed him again.
Sher took specific aim at the state legislature's response to federal enforcement. "While these politicians continue to waste valuable time, energy and resources passing embarrassingly performative legislation such as the Protect Act, ERO Boston will continue to proudly protect Massachusetts communities from these dangerous criminals," he said. The Protect Act — Massachusetts's legislative attempt to further insulate illegal immigrants from federal authorities — got the review it deserved: embarrassing and performative, from the man whose agents are doing the actual work of public safety the state government refuses to do.
ICE officials put it plainly: "Sanctuary policies only put American citizens at risk by allowing dangerous criminal illegal aliens to walk the street freely, without regard to the crimes they have committed." They added: "Now, under President Trump and Secretary Mullin's leadership, sanctuary cities are no longer a safe haven for the worst of the worst, such as child predators and sex offenders."
The charges across these 82 arrests include child predation, DUI, assault with dangerous weapons, strangulation, extortion, and larceny. These aren't people who overstayed a visa and got a parking ticket. These are the specific individuals Massachusetts politicians chose to shield when they voted for non-cooperation.
Eighty-two criminal aliens. Child predators among them. A three-day operation the state tried to prevent.
ERO Boston didn't ask permission.
