BOSTON — A debate on how Massachusetts courts address ICE detainers against illegal immigrants has flared up after a local superior court released a noncitizen charged with forcibly raping a minor.
Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston disclosed last week that Middlesex Superior Court ignored its detainer against Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas, an unlawfully present 38-year-old Guatemalan national.
ERO Boston had lodged a detainer against Hernandez in late June.
A Middlesex Superior Court judge arraigned Hernandez on Sept. 4 for aggravated rape of a child with force and rape of a child by force.
The judge “refused to honor (the) immigration detainer and released (the) noncitizen back into (the) community,” ERO Boston said in a release.
“Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas stands accused of horrific crimes against a Massachusetts child,” acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said in a statement. “He represents a significant danger to the children of our community that we will not tolerate. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen threats from our New England neighborhoods.”
Hernandez, who has been convicted in the past on breach of peace offenses, is said to have unlawfully entered the country “on an unknown date, at an unknown location and without inspection, admission or parole by a U.S. immigration official.”
Lowell Police arrested Hernandez on June 14 this year on charges of aggravated rape of a child and rape of a child with force.
“Instances of illegal immigrants being charged with heinous crimes, arrested, and released because ICE detainers are ignored under our state’s sanctuary philosophy have become far too common,” Carnevale said in a statement to the Herald.
Paul Diego Craney, spokesman for watchdog group Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, said politicians and government officials are “blinded by their own political ideology.”
“The safety of the public, and the voice of the victims, should be paramount over the political ideology of our leaders,” he said in a statement to the Herald. “There is absolutely no justification for protecting these types of violent criminals and the politicians and government officials that don’t understand this should not serve in their roles any longer.”
Obey