Recent illegal immigrant arrests on the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts have captured the nation's attention.
Over the last month, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made at least six arrests on the islands as part of a larger operation to detain illegal immigrant suspects accused of particularly egregious crimes in the beach towns favored by the Biden and Obama families.
"I think many people are concerned about the violent illegal population. ... The biggest thing is obviously not knowing anybody's history if they're here illegally. The legal immigrants will even discuss that," Toby Brown, chair of the Nantucket GOP, told Fox News Digital.
Brown, who noted that most immigrants on the idyllic island off the coast of Cape Cod are good and active community members, including those residing there illegally. But residents are still concerned about those who may be running from violent pasts in their home countries.
"It's such a small island that I find that things have gotten a little worse here on Nantucket," he said, though he also noted there are multiple reasons why crime and poverty seemed to have increased on the island in recent years.
Those are problems the ultrawealthy island residents seem to be removed from, he said.
"Once again, they're in big estates. And unfortunately, on Nantucket, the mainstream press, for the most part, would like people to think this place is still kind of just like Disneyland and we have zero issues on the island."
On Sept. 3, ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston announced that it arrested 24-year-old Brazilian illegal immigrant Warley Neto on Martha's Vineyard in late August. Neto, who illegally entered the United States through the Paso Del Norte border region of Texas and Mexico in 2018, is facing five counts of raping a Massachusetts minor.
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"Warley Neto allegedly repeatedly assaulted a Massachusetts child and represents a significant threat to the safety of our neighborhoods," ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in a statement at the time. "We are grateful for the cooperation of the Dukes County Sheriff’s Office for prioritizing public safety and allowing Neto’s safe transfer of custody to ERO. Too often local jurisdictions refuse to honor immigration detainers and release dangerous offenders back into the community to reoffend. ERO Boston will continue to apprehend and remove the most egregious noncitizen offenders from New England."
ERO Boston noted that it requested ICE detainers for Neto on three occasions. After issuing the first detainer, Neto was sentenced to prison but released early, and he went on to allegedly commit more crimes against a child just months later.
On Sept. 16, ERO Boston announced the Sept. 10 arrest of 28-year-old Salvadoran illegal immigrant Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, who is charged with one count of rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. It is unclear when and where Aldana-Arevalo entered the United States.
"Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo stands accused of some detestable and disturbing crimes against a Nantucket child," Lyons said at the time. "He represents a significant danger to the children of our Massachusetts communities. ERO Boston will not tolerate such a threat to the most vulnerable of our population."
ERO Boston officials also arrested Salvadoran national Elmer Sola on Sept. 10, the agency announced on Friday. Sola is charged with 11 counts of sex crimes against a child; specifically, three counts of aggravated rape of a child and eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.
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"Elmer Sola unlawfully entered the United States, then made his way into our Nantucket community before allegedly committing some horrific and despicable crimes against a child," Lyons said. "The officers of ERO Boston will not tolerate such a threat to the children of our New England neighborhoods."
It is unclear exactly where and when Sola entered the United States.
On Sept. 17, ERO officials announced the Sept. 11 arrest of Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, an illegal immigrant from Brazil who is charged with indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older.Â
Belafronte was legally admitted into the United States in 2018 but allegedly violated the terms of his admission. He then left the United States in 2021 and returned illegally at an unknown time, officials said.
"Gean Do Amaral Belafronte unlawfully entered the United States, made his way to Nantucket, and allegedly sexually assaulted one of our residents," Lyons said in a statement. "We have been consistent in our promise to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders. This is not a hollow expression; it is a sincere promise to the residents of our New England communities."
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ERO Boston on Tuesday announced a second arrest that occurred on Sept. 11. Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez, a 41-year-old illegal immigrant from Guatemala, was charged with a sex crime against a Nantucket resident. He was arraigned on Aug. 19 for indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older and arrested on Sept. 11.
"Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez was previously removed from the United States following convictions for reckless driving and reckless endangerment," Lyons said. "He then unlawfully reentered the country and made his way to our Nantucket community to apparently commit a sex crime against a resident here. Perez represents a threat to our New England residents that we cannot tolerate."
Gomez was previously arrested in 2011 for reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person. He was sentenced to one year of probation, and the Justice Department ordered his removal from the United States back to Guatemala. It is unclear when and where Gomez re-entered the United States.
ERO Boston on Thursday announced the Sept. 12 arrest of 30-year-old, Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant and documented member of MS-13.
"Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia unlawfully entered the United States then made his way to Massachusetts, to apparently commit crimes of violence," Lyons said. "To make matters worse, Deras-Mejia is a documented member of a notorious transnational criminal organization and represents a significant threat to the residents of Nantucket."
The recent ICE operations on the islands compare to similar previous stings. The agency arrested three people in 2012 and four in 2017 during comparable operations, according to the Nantucket Current.
Massachusetts has a number of cities that qualify as so-called "sanctuary cities," where local law enforcement officials do not always cooperate with federal authorities' detainer requests.
A June report from the Center for Immigration Studies estimated that the number of "illegal and inadmissible" migrants living in Massachusetts is about 355,000 with 50,000 new arrivals since 2021. It also reported that 10,000 migrants were minors with 8,500 being unaccompanied.
Two years ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two planes carrying illegal immigrants to Martha's Vineyard as part of "the state’s relocation program to transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations," the governor’s communications director, Taryn Fenske, told Fox News Digital at the time.
"States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support for the Biden administration’s open border policies," she said.
