A Massachusetts court ignored a request to hold an illegal migrant accused of kidnapping and various sex crimes for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency alleges.
Emilio Jose Pena-Casilla, a 46-year-old Dominican national living unlawfully in the United States, was released back into the community by a Boston municipal court after the court ignored an immigration detainer by ICE, according to a press release by the agency. The announcement marks the latest spat between federal immigration authorities and Massachusetts government officials, many of whom have voiced public support for sanctuary policies following President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory. (RELATED: Illegal Immigrants Are Scrambling To Lawyer Up Ahead Of Trump’s Swearing In)
However, an agency spokesperson says deportation officers were able to make an apprehension, despite the lack of cooperation from local officials.
“Emilio Jose Pena-Casilla stands accused of some very serious offenses against a Massachusetts resident,” said acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde of Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston. “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.”
Apprehension of Emilio Pena-Casilla. Image courtesy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Federal immigration authorities first encountered Pena-Casilla when he was apprehended by Border Patrol agents in January 2023 for unlawfully crossing into the U.S. near Eagle Pass, Texas, according to ICE. He was immediately enrolled into Alternatives to Detention (ATD) — a program that allows asylum seekers to move freely in the country in lieu of physical detention while they await their immigration court dates — and was quickly released into the U.S.
However, the Dominican national may not have followed the guidelines of the program or possibly absconded altogether, as ICE says he was terminated from ATD on Feb. 16, 2023.
ICE’s Boston office issued an immigration detainer for Pena-Casilla with the Boston Police Department and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office after he was arraigned by the Dorchester District Court on July 15 for kidnapping, assault to rape, two courts of indecent assault and battery and other charges, according to the agency. However, ICE says the Dorchester District Court ignored their detainer and released him on bail with GPS conditions.
Deportation officers were able to arrest the illegal migrant in the Boston area on Dec. 17 and the agency says he remains in ERO custody.
The apprehension follows a vote by the Boston City Council in December that reaffirms the city’s sanctuary status, which largely prohibits local police from assisting or otherwise cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in November also doubled down on the city’s sanctuary laws in the aftermath of Trump’s election victory.
The backlash in Boston comes despite Trump, who clinched the popular vote and won the presidential election in an electoral landslide, running on a pro-border enforcement platform — giving him a mandate to follow-through on his campaign promises. The Republican has pledged to conduct the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and reintroduce a number of Trump-era border policies immediately upon entering office.
Former ICE acting director Tom Homan, who has been tapped to lead Trump’s mass deportation operation, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he will focus on the “worst first”,” prioritizing criminals and other public safety threats. However, he also made clear that anyone living unlawfully in the U.S. is fair game for removal.
There has been debate over whether the entire state of Massachusetts is a sanctuary haven for illegal migrants.
Organizations like the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.,-based group that advocates for tougher immigration laws, labels Massachusetts as a sanctuary jurisdiction, pointing to a 2017 court decision that bars local officers from arresting and holding an individual solely on the basis of an immigration detainer. However, Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, who has been forced to deal with an immigration crisis since taking office, has recently claimed Massachusetts is not a sanctuary jurisdiction.
“We’re not a sanctuary state,” Healey said to the Boston Herald in December. “We have a limited budget, and the emergency shelter system really was meant for Massachusetts families who were experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity and needed a place to go that was temporary.”
A top ICE official responded by noting that Massachusetts officials could do better at notifying the agency when they are about to release a criminal migrant from their custody.
Massachusetts has remained a hotbed of ICE activity against criminal migrants. The agency in September announced the arrest of four different illegal migrants in the span of just 48 hours in Nantucket, with every migrant apprehended having previously been accused of sex crimes against children or other individuals.
Much like prior arrests of criminal migrants in the state, the agency celebrated Pena-Casilla’s apprehension as a win for public safety.
“Today, another victim in Massachusetts no longer needs to fear their predator,” Hyde said on Thursday.
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