Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced that all state-run shelters will be inspected and their policies reviewed after an immigrant was found with 10 pounds of fentanyl and a high-capacity rifle.
Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, arrived in Massachusetts on Dec. 27 with an estimated $1 million worth of fentanyl, an AR-15 loaded with .556 ammunition, and three high-capacity rifle magazines, according to Libyan police. He was arrested in the state of Libya. announced last week.
Sanchez, a Dominican national who entered the country illegally, was arrested by police as he searched for a room at a homeless shelter from a hotel.
“This individual put hotel occupants, frontline employees, public safety personnel, and the entire community at risk,” Chief David Callahan said in a statement.
“His arrest underscores our commitment to working tirelessly to protect our communities from those who traffic in deadly fentanyl and possess illegal firearms,” Callahan said. said.
Mr. Healey ordered an inspection of all state shelters following Mr. Sanchez's arrest at the Quality Inn amid intense opposition from House Republicans.
“How is it possible that an illegal immigrant is receiving the benefits of an emergency family shelter when our laws do not allow it? Why wasn’t it reported on my background check?” caucus members wrote to Healy.
“Despite the Commonwealth's strict gun laws, how could this individual have access to a high-capacity firearm? How did a criminal enterprise run from a family shelter when it was allegedly obtained?”
Sanchez was charged in Chelsea District Court last week with 10 firearms and fentanyl trafficking charges, according to Revere Police.
According to an ICE press release, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Operations in Boston filed an immigration detention against Sanchez along with Libyan police.
Mr. Sanchez is currently in state custody and will be turned over to ICE upon his release.
Massachusetts has been embroiled in immigrant complaints over the state system for years, but problems have proliferated in recent months as courts have consistently ignored ERO Boston's immigrant detainees.
A 2017 Lunn decision by the state Supreme Judicial Court determined that current law “does not authorize Massachusetts state court officials to arrest and detain individuals solely on the basis of federal civilian immigration detainer status.”
The trial court's policy also ensures that people in ICE custody should not be treated or treated differently from other people simply because they are with detainees.
The RUN response bill was introduced by Republicans in both the House and Senate in October 2024, but no action was taken by the deadline and it died.
Healey said his administration is in contact with local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities about Sanchez's case, and blamed “federal inaction.”
“This further highlights the brokenness of our federal immigration system and the urgent need for Congress and the White House to address border security legislation to prevent criminals from entering our communities,” Healey said. said.
Similar issues are occurring in New York City as shelters across the state begin to close.
Over the summer, an immigrant shelter in Long Island City was nearly taken over by a teenage fight club, causing so much noise that residents in the area were unable to sleep.
