A Massachusetts court has released an illegal alien accused of a violent crime despite a request by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain him.
Emilio Jose Peña-Casilla, 46, a Dominican national, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol in January 2023 after illegally entering the country in Eagle Pass, Texas. ice.
“Massachusetts leaders continue to go above and beyond to protect our most ferocious predators.”
ICE's removal operations enrolled him in the Alternative to Detention Program, which allows him to be released to the United States on his own recognizance while awaiting removal proceedings. However, ERO terminated him from the program after a month.
In July 2024, Dorchester District Court charged Pena-Casilla with “rape, kidnapping, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, and intimidation of a witness/juror/police/court official,” according to ICE. reported.
ICE then issued a restraining order against Pena-Casilla, requiring him to be held at the Nashua Street Jail for up to 48 hours to give immigration officials time to transfer him to federal custody.
Pena-Casilla was released on bail the day after the detention request was sent, wearing a GPS tracking device.
Dorchester District Court dismissed charges against Pena Casilla after Suffolk County Superior Court indicted him in September based on the same long list of charges.
Despite ignoring ICE's detention requests, federal agents were successful arrested December 17th, Pena Casilla in Boston. He remains in federal custody.
“Emilio Jose Pena-Casilla is accused of several very serious crimes against Massachusetts residents,” said ERO Boston Deputy Field Director Patricia Hyde.
“We have a sacred duty to protect the residents of our communities, and we will continue to do so by apprehending and removing egregious non-citizen criminals from our communities. born and no longer have to be afraid of predators,” Hyde said.
ICE's arrest announcement comes after Democratic Gov. Maura Healey claimed that Massachusetts is “not a sanctuary state.”
Sanctuary jurisdictions are typically defined as municipalities or states where local law enforcement officials ignore the requests of ICE detainees or refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials.
“Detainers are an important public safety tool because they allow enforcement resources to be focused on mobile non-citizens arrested for criminal activity. “Arrests should be made in secure, controlled detention centers, rather than in public, to increase the safety of all involved,” ICE said.
Healey previously vowed to fight against President-elect Donald Trump's mass deportation plans, insisting he would “never allow” the Massachusetts State Police to cooperate with the president-elect's efforts to remove illegal aliens. . She went so far as to say she would use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect” undocumented immigrants living in right-of-refuge states.
But in late December, Mr. Healey appeared to backtrack, saying he supported deporting illegal aliens who committed crimes in the United States. He said local, state and federal law enforcement agencies should work together to eliminate such threats from communities.
“I think what we have to do is work together here in Massachusetts to do both. Investigate illegal aliens and people who have engaged in criminal activity, hold them accountable, and make sure we do what is necessary.” And we will absolutely defend and protect them.''People who work here, go to school here, and raise their children here cannot go to the doctor or raise their children. I try not to be afraid to send them off. [at] You go to school or you go to work,” Healy said.
“Massachusetts leaders are doing more than ever to protect some of their most violent predators at the expense of their own voters,” Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told Blaze News. We are making efforts to do so.”
“They're doing this to make a political statement, but it's to the detriment of their own nation,” he continued. “These leaders don't want you to believe your eyes, but you should. They should not be allowed to stay even for a day.”
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