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Elon Musk, the the richest man on the earth and a top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump, used his social media platform this week to attack Massachusetts officials over immigration policy.
As Trump and his allies ramp up preparations for what they are saying are mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, Massachusetts leaders like Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu reiterated their commitment to existing laws that dictate how local law enforcement cooperates with federal authorities may Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
Musk weighed in on the local debate by responding to recent press releases from the ICE office in Boston in regards to the arrests of three aliens accused of kid rape. He said so-called “sanctuary cities” would “protect child rapists” and called for any politician who did so to be “removed immediately”.
musk recently defended Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump's first selection for attorney general, who was previously investigated on suspicion of sex trafficking of an underage girl. Gaetz denied these allegations.
Massachusetts officials like Healey have made it clear that they don’t oppose deporting undocumented immigrants linked to serious crimes akin to rape and murder. After Trump's victory, Healey said that state police wouldn’t assist federal agents in carrying out mass deportations.
“Violent criminals should be deported, and they will be,” Healey said recently . “However, I do not support efforts to round up millions of long-term families, people who work and many who have children here. I don’t think it makes human or economic sense, and it will destroy some of our most important industries across the country.”
Trump recently said he would do it deploy the military perform mass deportations.
This was also announced by a spokesman for the Massachusetts State Police that enforcing federal immigration law is “not a job” of the agency and that cops are literally prevented from taking enforcement actions that rely solely on federal law Immigration detainees. These detainers are requests from ICE asking law enforcement to notify the agency as early as possible before releasing deportable noncitizens. The detainees are also asking law enforcement to carry the non-citizen for as much as an extra 48 hours.
But ICE detainees will not be mandatory, and native law enforcement must resolve whether or to not cooperate. Most ICE detainees haven’t any probable cause, they are saying ACLU Massachusetts. In 2017, a federal appeals court actually ruled that the Fourth Amendment requires that detainees be supported by probable cause. Law enforcement agencies that detain individuals in an unconstitutional manner could also be held liable.
One of the reports Musk responded to concerns Guatemalan national Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz, who was charged with child rape in Great Barrington. De Paz-Munoz, who entered the USA in 2020, was released by the US border police with a request to seem before a judge ICE. He was arrested by Great Barrington police in February of this 12 months for alleged rape of a baby and other related charges, and ICE filed an immigration hold with Great Barrington police. According to ICE, that detainee was “ignored” and De Paz-Munoz was released on bond before federal agents could arrest him. He was eventually arrested by ICE in Great Barrington earlier this month. Charges against him are pending in Berkshire County Superior Court and he stays in ICE custody.
In one other recent publication, ICE announced the arrest by Billy Erney Buitrago-Bustos. Buitrago-Bustos is a Colombian citizen who was admitted to the United States in 2016 and was unable to depart under the terms of his visa, authorities said. Great Barrington police arrested him on child rape charges in October 2023 and ICE issued an arrest warrant. He was charged and held without bail. The Berkshire County Jail and House of Correction in Pittsfield honored the immigration detainee and released Buitrago-Bustos into ICE custody earlier this month, the agency said.
The Third report Musk was responding to the concerned Alexandre Romao De Oliveira, a Brazilian citizen who was convicted of kid rape in his home country in 2022 and sentenced to 14 years in prison. But Romao De Oliveira fled to the United States later that 12 months and was released from Department of Homeland Security custody with orders to seem before a judge. He was arrested by ICE agents in Methuen earlier this week.
When Trump takes office, there’ll likely be more clashes between his administration and Massachusetts leaders. Wu and Trump's recent “border czar” Tom Homan have already spoken out about one another.
Asked about Trump's plans, Wu said Boston's resources and personnel, including local police, wouldn’t be expected to cooperate with federal agents attempting to detain migrants who weren’t “part of serious criminal activity.” She quoted one existing regulation This prohibits local police from detaining immigrants for deportation unless they’ve a criminal warrant against them.
Homan said Wu was “not very smart” and warned her against crossing a “clear line.” In his response, Wu pointed to Boston's recent track record Improving public safety.
“You can say what you want about me, but our public safety record speaks for itself: Boston is the safest big city in America. “Our murder rates are among the lowest of any city nationwide, and gun violence here in Boston has been at an all-time low over the past two years,” Wu said in an announcement.
“This is no coincidence – it reflects the trust between our residents and our public safety officers and is the result of our daily focus on community policing and city service coordination,” the mayor continued. “We will continue to focus on this work and have no intention of rolling out the welcome mat for them.”
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