The New England Immigration and Customs Enforcement office has a simple request as well as a warning to sanctuary cities: Help us snag illegal alien criminals or continue putting the public in danger.
In comments given to the Boston Herald Todd Michael Lyons, the acting field director for New England ICE, said that because of cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, law enforcement is "always two steps behind any criminal alien."
The comments come in wake of a report that shows ICE conducted "the arrests of 158,581 illegal immigrants nationwide — most already targeted by police — and deportations of 256,000-plus in the last fiscal year."
Nearly 3,000 of these arrests came in New England and almost all were "wanted on drug or other criminal charges. Some, he added, were let go by local judges, jails and police who ignored ICE detention orders," according to the Herald.
“We have to focus on the worst of the worst,” Lyons told the Herald. “We’re not trying to round up people at work. We’re targeting the hard core.”
That is why it is puzzling that he even has to ask these sanctuary cities why “not rid communities of public safety threats?”
Advocates of sanctuary cities argue that local police cooperation with agencies such as ICE discourages immigrant communities from reporting crime. Thus, sanctuary cities refuse cooperation under the guise of seeking to protect innocent, non-violent immigrants and illegal aliens alike.
But, police officers such as Saugus police officer James Scott argues that it's actually ICE who are keeping city streets safe by removing drug dealers from various New England towns who contribute to the regions growing opioid crisis.
“The public has no idea how many drug dealers ICE is removing from the streets, almost on a daily basis. I see it firsthand,” Scott told the Herald.
As Townhall reported last week, a five day sweep throughout New England earlier this month netted 58 illegal aliens including suspected murders and dozens of violent criminals.