Mass. Sheriff Slams State’s Sanctuary Policies That Ignore ICE Detainers

A sheriff in Massachusetts has told Newsweek that a rule which allows courts and law enforcement to ignore detainers from ICE is putting communities at risk by allowing individuals accused of violent crimes to roam free.
Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis said the state had become a “magnet” for immigrants due to its safe shelter practices and benefits offerings, but that a proportion of those arriving were carrying out crimes.
“I’m not vilifying everyone, I’m not saying that all the people come here are criminals, not by any stretch,” the sheriff said. “But there is an element, and that’s what I’m concerned about, which now has a state where the detainers are not allowed to be honored.”
A detainer is issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when the agency wants to take custody of an illegal immigrant, or someone who had broken the terms of their visa, after they have allegedly committed another crime.
In Massachusetts, the state’s supreme court issued a decision in 2017 (Lunn v. Commonwealth) finding that those detainers, which allow migrants to be held beyond their official release so ICE officers can come and claim them, do not have to be adhered to.
For Sheriff Evangelidis, that ruling has now left communities vulnerable to those who have allegedly committed violent crimes and then been bailed out or released from jail, as some agencies simply do not look at their immigration status.
“I think that’s a dereliction of responsibility, frankly,” he said. “I believe I took an oath as Worcester County Sheriff to protect the people of my county.
“That means if someone’s in this country illegally, they committed crimes, I should work with the proper authorities to give them the opportunity to remove them or take them into custody.”
Sheriff Evangelidis told Newsweek that he had noticed a shift in recent years, with 94 detainers placed on those in his custody in the past year, compared to 67 last year, and 49 the year before that, but with little resource to honor all of them.
ICE’s struggle with Massachusetts’ authorities releasing suspected criminal immigrants has become more pronounced in recent months, with around half a dozen people rounded up on Nantucket Island in September. Three had been accused of raping children.
After it was announced a Guatemalan man had been charged with raping a child — but was later released because his detainer was ignored — Republicans in the state started raising the alarm.
Amy Carnevale, Massachusetts Republican Party Chair, told Newsweek earlier that the state’s sanctuary philosophy was being misused.
“Not allowing courts to recognize ICE detainers puts the safety of residents at risk and enables dangerous predators to hide within our communities,” she said.
The 2017 decision was designed to stop immigrants being unfairly detained beyond their limit, and was celebrated by then-Attorney General Maura Healey. But the sheriff said the world had changed in the past seven years, with tens of thousands of migrants arriving in Massachusetts in the years since.
Evangelidis wants the state legislature to pass a law clarifying that detainers must be honored for a certain amount of time, without infringing on a person’s civil rights.
“I would hope people would want their law enforcement officials to have the ability and almost mandated to work with Homeland Security to identify people who are in this country illegally, committing crimes,” the sheriff said. “Sharing of information on everybody, not unilaterally deciding ‘we’re not going to cooperate. We’re not going to do this’.
“I don’t that’s a good policy for public safety.”
Until then, Evangelidis said he would continue to give ICE as much notice as he can, so officers can arrive in time to take custody of immigrants the agency is keeping tabs on.
Newsweek reached out to the current Attorney General’s office for comment, as well as Boston’s Enforcement Removal Operations office which issues detainers, via email.