Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a Dominican illegal immigrant charged with sex crimes and kidnapping in Boston, after he was released from local custody despite a request by the agency to hand him over.
In a statement, ICE said it had arrested Emilio Jose Pena-Casilla, a 46-year-old, who is charged with assault to rape, kidnapping, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, and intimidation of an official, witness, or juror, was arrested Dec. 17 in Boston.
Pena-Casilla entered the U.S. illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, in January 2023, and was enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program. Under that program, migrants are monitored by a GPS tracking device or check in via an app. He was removed from the program a month later.
In July this year, he was arraigned in Massachusetts. ICE says its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Boston issued a detainer, but it was ignored by the district court and he was released on GPS on bail. ICE would eventually track him down in December.
"Emilio Jose Pena-Casilla stands accused of some very serious offenses against a Massachusetts resident," acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde of ERO Boston said in a statement. "We hold a sacred duty to protect the residents of our communities, and we will continue to do so by apprehending and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from our neighborhoods. Today, another victim in Massachusetts no longer needs to fear their predator."
Boston is one of a number of "sanctuary" cities that limit or forbid cooperation by local law enforcement with ICE. Supporters of sanctuary policies say they allow illegal immigrants to cooperate with local law enforcement, but opponents say they result in the release of criminal illegal immigrants back onto the streets.
Boston City Council recently doubled down on its sanctuary policies, voting in favor of a resolution to limit ICE cooperation and to ban police from keeping migrants in custody for possible deportation unless there is a criminal warrant.
The resolution adopted by the council states that "proposals for mass deportations represent a direct attack on Boston’s immigrant families, and threaten to tear communities apart."
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Sanctuary policies have been back in the spotlight with the approaching Trump administration, which has promised to ramp up deportations and launch a historic operation to potentially remove millions of illegal immigrants.
A number of Democratic officials in states, including Massachusetts, have said they will not cooperate in the deportation push. President-elect Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has hinted there could be legal consequences for those who get in the way of the operation.
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Recently, America First Legal notified nearly 250 officials in jurisdictions that limit or forbid local law enforcement cooperation with ICE that there could be legal consequences for interfering with the feds or for concealing illegal immigrants.
"We have identified your jurisdiction as a sanctuary jurisdiction that is violating federal law. Such lawlessness subjects you and your subordinates to significant risk of criminal and civil liability. Accordingly, we are sending this letter to put you on notice of this risk and insist that you comply with our nation’s laws," the letter says.
