Despite facing repeated sanctuary city opposition, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Boston continue to apprehend some of the most violent offenders illegally in the U.S. They include fugitives, child rapists, murderers, sex offenders, drug traffickers, among others.

The director of field operations overseeing removal actions for New England, who’s rallied against sanctuary policies, was tapped by the Trump administration to oversee removal efforts nationwide.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have faced an uphill battle for years when lodging detainer requests with local municipalities that ignore them, instead choosing to release them into local communities. Many of the most violent offenders are gotaways, those who illegally entered the U.S. between ports of entry to evade capture. A record more than two million gotaways were reported under the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Despite this, ICE agents continue to arrest violent offenders. In one recent multi-agency operation, a Brazilian fugitive wanted in his home country for illegally carrying a firearm and making threats was arrested in Medfield, Mass.

“This fugitive attempted to flee justice in Brazil and take refuge in Massachusetts while presenting a significant threat to our residents. We will not allow New England to become a safe haven for the world’s criminal elements,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said.

The Brazilian national illegally entered the U.S. “on an unknown date, at an unknown location and without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by a U.S. immigration official,” ICE said, meaning he was a gotaway.

ICE agents also arrested a 59-year-old Guatemalan national illegally in the U.S., also a gotaway, charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child in Brighton. In this case, the Boston Municipal Court ignored an ICE detainer request and released him last December, fitting him with a GPS monitor. ICE agents later located him, arrested him and he remains in ICE custody.

ICE ERO Boston agents also arrested a 19-year-old Guatemalan national illegally in the U.S. charged with aggravated rape of a 9-year-old child, in Lawrence, Mass. He was arraigned last December by the Lawrence District Court on felony charges. ICE then arrested him; he remains in custody facing removal proceedings.

In another case, ICE ERO Boston agents arrested a Turkish national illegally in the U.S. in Burlington. He was arraigned in 2023 on charges of rape and indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years old. The Brighton District Court ignored an ICE detainer request and released him from custody last April.

He was again arraigned by the Suffolk Superior Court in Boston last June on charges of rape, indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years of age, this time adding kidnapping charges. Boston Police officers then arrested him again last September on warrants for pending charges. The Nashua Street Jail also ignored an ICE detainer request and released him last September. ICE agents were able to locate and arrest him; he remains in ICE custody.

In another case, ICE agents arrested a 38-year-old convicted murderer wanted in Haiti after he escaped prison and illegally entered the U.S.

He was first apprehended by Border Patrol agents in October 2023, after illegally entering near Brownsville, Texas. Instead of being processed for removal in accordance with federal law, the Biden administration released him with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. The judge ordered his removal last May. ICE was only notified last month by Haitian authorities that he was wanted for homicide and had escaped from a Haitian prison. He remains in ICE custody pending removal to Haiti.

In another case, ICE agents arrested a 25-year-Dominican national in Boston on multiple felony charges, including indecent assault and battery and gross lewdness. This was after he was arrested by Border Patrol agents in June 2022 after illegally entering the U.S. as a gotaway near Rio Grande, Texas. Under the Biden administration, he was briefly detained and released on parole instead of processed for removal. Last year, ICE placed a detainer request with the local jail, which it refused, and released him. As a result, ICE agents were “forced by the noncooperative jurisdiction to conduct an operation Jan. 29 in Dorchester to apprehend the alien.” He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

“When jurisdictions fail to cooperate, ICE will take every necessary step to locate and apprehend those whose release poses a significant threat to the community,” Hyde said.

Todd Lyons, the former director of ICE ERO field operations based in Boston, has long argued sanctuary policies counter their efforts to apprehend the most violent offenders and endanger residents. He was recently tapped by the Trump administration to be the next acting director of ICE and oversee enforcement removal operations nationwide.

Elected officials in Massachusetts and other states "preaching their sanctuary city status are making it easier for those who commit sex crimes and fentanyl dealers. We need cities and towns to work with us to keep these criminals out of neighborhoods,” Lyons said as sanctuary jurisdictions continued to remain uncooperative even after Iranian national security threats emerged in a Boston suburb, The Center Square reported.