ICE Nabs Illegal Immigrant Charged With Sex Crimes in Blue City, After Release From Jail

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a Dominican illegal immigrant charged with sex crimes and kidnapping in Boston, after he was released from local custody despite a request by the agency to hand him over.

In a statement, ICE said it had arrested Emilio Jose Pena-Casilla, a 46-year-old, who is charged with assault to rape, kidnapping, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older, and intimidation of an official, witness, or juror, was arrested Dec. 17 in Boston.

Pena-Casilla entered the U.S. illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, in January 2023, and was enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program. Under that program, migrants are monitored by a GPS tracking device or check in via an app. He was removed from the program a month later.

In July this year, he was arraigned in Massachusetts. ICE says its Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Boston issued a detainer, but it was ignored by the district court and he was released on GPS on bail. ICE would eventually track him down in December.

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Boston is one of a number of “sanctuary” cities that limit or forbid cooperation by local law enforcement with ICE. {snip}

Boston City Council recently doubled down on its sanctuary policies, voting in favor of a resolution to limit ICE cooperation and to ban police from keeping migrants in custody for possible deportation unless there is a criminal warrant.

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