Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested an illegal Dominican immigrant accused of sex crimes and kidnapping in Boston, after he was released from local custody despite the agency's extradition request.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that it has arrested Emilio Jose Pena Casilla, 46, who is charged with assault, rape, kidnapping, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years of age or older, and intimidation of a person. An official, witness, or juror was arrested on December 17 in Boston.
Pena Casella entered the United States illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, in January 2023, and was enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program.
Under this program, migrants are monitored by a GPS tracking device or their arrival is recorded via an app. He was removed from the program a month later.
In July of this year, he was arraigned in Massachusetts.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Boston issued a detention order for a person, but the district court ignored the order and he was released via GPS on bail. ICE will eventually track it down in December.
“Emilio Jose Peña Casilla is accused of committing some very serious crimes against a Massachusetts resident,” Patricia Hyde, acting field office director of ERO Boston, said in a statement.
“We have a sacred duty to protect the residents of our communities, and we will continue to do so by apprehending and removing egregious non-citizen criminals from our neighborhoods.
Today, no other victim in Massachusetts needs to fear the predator.
Boston is one of a number of “sanctuary” cities that limit or prohibit local law enforcement's cooperation with ICE.
Supporters of sanctuary policies say they allow undocumented immigrants to cooperate with local law enforcement, but opponents say they release criminal illegal immigrants back onto the streets.
The Boston City Council recently doubled down on its sanctuary policies, voting in favor of a resolution to limit ICE cooperation and prohibit police from keeping immigrants in detention for possible deportation unless there is a criminal warrant.
“The mass deportation proposals represent a direct attack on immigrant families in Boston and threaten to tear apart communities,” the resolution adopted by the council states.
Sanctuary policies are back in the spotlight as the Trump administration approaches, which has promised to ramp up deportations and launch a historic operation to remove millions of illegal immigrants.
A number of Democratic officials in states, including Massachusetts, have said they will not cooperate in the deportation campaign.
Tom Homan, President-elect Trump's border official, hinted that there may be legal consequences for those who get in the way of the process.
Recently, America First Legal notified nearly 250 officials in jurisdictions that limit or prohibit local law enforcement cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that there may be legal consequences for interfering with the feds or hiding illegal immigrants.
“We have determined your jurisdiction to be a recourse for violating federal law.
Such lawlessness exposes you and your subordinates to a significant risk of criminal and civil liability.
Accordingly, we are sending this message to notify you of this risk and to insist that you comply with the laws of our country.
