Boston Globe: Elon Musk comments on ICE arrests in Mass., says ‘sanctuary’ cities are ‘protecting child rapists’
Elon Musk comments on ICE arrests in Mass., says ‘sanctuary’ cities are ‘protecting child rapists’
By Travis Andersen
November 21, 2024
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person who helped get Donald Trump reelected and has been tapped to run a government efficiency office in the incoming administration, took to his social media platform Wednesday to note the arrests of three undocumented migrants in Massachusetts who were either convicted or charged with sex offenses against children.
“Why are ‘sanctuary’ cities protecting child rapists? Unconscionable,” Musk wrote on X, the platform that he owns, above a Fox News reporter’s post detailing the arrests in Great Barrington and Methuen. “Any politician who does so should be recalled immediately.”
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1859369148159033619
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1859369148159033619
The arrests Musk was referring to were carried out by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit, or ERO.
The agency has long complained that law enforcement authorities in Massachusetts and the state’s court system do not cooperate with its efforts to arrest undocumented immigrants who are facing criminal charges and begin deportation proceedings.
On Nov. 12, authorities arrested Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz, 21, in Great Barrington, ICE said.
A Guatemalan national, De Paz-Munoz entered the US illegally in 2020, and police in Great Barrington arrested him in February on a charges of rape of a child by force, rape of a child, and indecent assault and battery on person 14 or older, ICE said.
The agency said it lodged an immigration detainer with local police, but the request was ignored and he was released on bail before immigration agents could take him into custody to begin deportation proceedings.
On Nov. 18 in Methuen, immigration agents arrested Alexandre Romao De Oliveira, 41, a Brazilian national convicted of child rape in his native country, ICE said. He fled Brazil before the imposition of a 14-year prison sentence and entered the US illegally in 2022, the agency said.
Those arrests followed the Oct. 31 apprehension in Bourne of Andre Tiago Lucas, 36, who was convicted in 2016 of raping a 13-year-old in his native Brazil, ICE said. Lucas also fled before serving his sentence and entered the US illegally, eventually settling in Massachusetts, according to ICE.
Musk’s mention of “sanctuary cities” in his post refers broadly to municipalities that do not assist the federal government in its immigration enforcement efforts. The issue has become a flashpoint as Trump, who has pledged a largescale operation to deport millions of people living in the US illegally, prepares to return to the White House.
Musk’s comments also followed a recent exchange between Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston and Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming border czar.
The progressive mayor drew Homan’s fire after she said in a television interview Sunday that local authorities will not assist federal mass deportation efforts,a clip that was recirculated on conservative news shows.
“Either she helps us, or she gets the hell out of the way, because we’re going to do it,” Homan shot back Monday in an interview on the conservative news outlet Newsmax.
“She’s not very smart, I’ll give her that,” Homan said of the Harvard College and Harvard Law School graduate.
“There’s a clear line here, and they can’t cross a clear line,” he cautioned. “They can not cooperate, but there are certain laws in place that they can’t cross. And I hope she doesn’t cross it.”
On Thursday, the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, Amy Carnevale, echoed Homan’s criticism.
“It’s appalling and disgusting that the Governor of Massachusetts and the Mayor of Boston, the largest city in our state, are prioritizing appeasing the most radical elements of their political base over the safety of Massachusetts residents,” Carnevale said in a statement. “Parents across the Commonwealth are horrified that individuals charged with such serious crimes are allowed to roam free because local authorities refuse to work with ICE to remove these criminals from our streets.”
Wu’s comments were not proposing a new policy for the city, nor did they reach beyond what many other Democrats, including Governor Maura Healey, have said on the topic. The governor said recently that the state would use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect our residents,” and that State Police would “absolutely not” assist in the mass deportation efforts Trump has promised.
Wu cited the 2014 Boston Trust Act, which bars local police from holding immigrants for possible deportation by federal authorities unless a criminal warrant has been issued for the person’s arrest. Under Boston’s existing laws, Wu has said, law enforcement will not be required or expected to participate in mass deportations of residents who have not been involved in “serious criminal activity.”
Trump has pledged to seal the border and “carry out the largest deportation operation in American history.”
November 29, 2024. Tags: Boston, Elon Musk, Great Barrington, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Massachusetts, Methuen, Michelle Wu, sanctuary cities, Soft on crime, Violent crime. Immigration, Soft on crime, Violent crime. Leave a comment.
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