Related videos:
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced the arrest of the Cuban Jorge García Hernández in Massachusetts during an immigration operation focused on "dangerous illegal aliens," with criminal records that include child molestation and drug trafficking.
ICE agents in Boston arrested García Hernández on December 3, described by authorities as a "repeat offender" originally from Cuba.
According to the agency's information, the criminal charges against the Cuban citizen include sexual assault of a minor under 16 years old, assault causing injury, and possession and distribution of a controlled substance on school property.
ICE Boston also made public the arrests of five other immigrants, hailing from Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Cape Verde, with records of high-risk offenses. Among the crimes charged are child rape, aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon, armed robbery, drug distribution - fentanyl and marijuana - and physical assault on a police officer.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has intensified efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants deemed a threat to public safety.
With the tightening of immigration policies under the Trump administration, ICE operations, in conjunction with other DHS agencies and federal and state law enforcement, have increased in frequency and scope across the country.
In that context, in recent months there have been numerous arrests of Cuban citizens with criminal records, who remain in ICE custody awaiting deportation.
However, the U.S. faces difficulties in carrying out deportations of certain migrants to Cuba, due to the reluctance of the Havana government to accept nationals who committed crimes and served sentences in U.S. prisons, who left the country prior to the immigration agreements of 2017.
The recent detentions of Cubans occur at a time when the Trump administration has further escalated its offensive against illegal immigration, which is not only focused on the arrest and deportation of violent foreign criminals but also targets individuals in various stages of their immigration processes who have not committed any crimes.
Filed under: