An alleged child sexual predator and MS-13 gang member has been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Massachusetts.
ICE announced that its Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston division tracked down Belardis Tapia Gonzalez, a Dominican national accused of second-degree child molestation-sexual assault in Rhode Island, in Lynn on Monday.
"ERO Boston is tasked with keeping our communities safe from potentially dangerous noncitizens -- particularly those accused of crimes so egregious as child sexual assault," ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said in a statement. "Our officers apprehended Tapia, who has been accused of terrible crimes, after we discovered that a court in Warwick, Rhode Island, released him on bail."
Gonzalez, who remains in ICE custody, has since been served with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge.
ERO Boston also arrested Jose Luis Castro Jovel, described as a "24-year-old Salvadoran national and confirmed MS-13 gang member," on Nov. 13 along a road in Northampton.
"Castro entered the United States on an unknown date, at an unknown location, without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official," ICE said. "A Department of Justice immigration judge ordered his removal March 22, 2023, but he remained in the country.
"Northampton police arrested Castro Jan. 26 for assault and battery of a family or household member," it added. "ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against him with the Northampton District Court, which followed him to the Hampden County Correctional Center, where he was detained following his arraignment. However, the Northampton District Court released him Feb. 12 without notifying ERO Boston."
The latest arrests come after ICE announced on Wednesday the detention of two illegal immigrants who have been charged with forcibly raping children in Massachusetts, as well as a third individual who was convicted of raping a child in Brazil, and was hiding in the U.S. after being caught and released at the U.S. border in 2022.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has said that her state would not cooperate with President-elect Trump’s federal immigration enforcement efforts once he returns to the Oval Office in January.
Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
