Another round of arrests of illegal immigrants in Massachusetts for horrific crimes targeting children, and another bad day for supporters of sanctuary policies in New Hampshire.
On Wednesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston announced the arrest of an illegal immigrant from Guatemala on charges of raping a child and indecent assault and battery against a minor on Nov. 12 in Great Barrington.
“Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz stands accused of horrifically victimizing a Massachusetts child and represents a significant threat to our neighborhoods,” said acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde of ERO Boston.
De Paz-Munoz crossed the border into Texas in September, was apprehended and then released into the U.S. with a notice to appear.
ERO Boston also announced the arrest of Billy Erney Buitrago-Bustos in Pittsfield, Mass., an illegal alien from Colombia charged with child rape, statutory rape, and aggravated rape of a minor.
A third arrest, this one in Methuen, was also announced on Wednesday, though the crime was committed in Brazil.
“Alexandre Romao De Oliveira is a convicted child rapist who fled his home country to evade justice,” Hyde said.
According to Customs officials, De Oliveira was convicted of child rape in 2022 and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He fled to the U.S., where he was detained while illegally crossing the border into New Mexico. He, too, was served with a notice to appear and released into the United States.
Those arrests are just the latest ERO Boston has executed in the Bay State in recent weeks, including an Ecuadorian national in Plymouth facing rape and kidnapping charges, a Brazilian man facing attempted murder charges in his home country, a Mexican man living in Lynn who had previously been deported following a rape conviction, and a Guatemalan man who illegally entered the country in 2016 and was later charged with first-degree child molestation sexual assault, among others.
In February, an NHJournal report focused on a hotel-turned-shelter located less than a mile from the New Hampshire line, a facility that drew more than 380 responses from police in less than a year.
Despite the steady stream of disturbing headlines regarding crimes committed by illegal aliens next door in Massachusetts, Granite State Democrats unanimously voted to oppose a ban on sanctuary cities. And they nominated a sanctuary policy supporter, former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, to be their candidate for governor.
Polls have long shown most Americans support tighter immigration enforcement and oppose sanctuary policies. However, recent polling shows an increase in support for the more extreme stance of mass deportations promoted by President-elect Trump.
While Massachusetts officials like Gov. Maura Healey (D) and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are pledging to oppose federal immigration enforcement efforts, New Hampshire’s Gov.-elect Kelly Ayotte has staked out a different stance. And she’s likely to sign legislation banning sanctuary cities should it pass the legislature this session.
Last session, the state Senate passed it over the unanimous objections of Democrats, but opponents were able to kill it in the House. Democrats unanimously opposed it there, too.
