2 weeks Ago By Matthew Medsger
Even as President Donald Trump was planning to meet with the South American president he’s contracted to hold U.S. deportees, his Immigrations and Customs Enforcement teams continued their effort to press on with his mass deportation policy.
Operating under the shadow of a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision directing his administration to “facilitate” the return of a wrongfully deported man who is currently housed in a notorious El Salvadoran terrorist detention center, among other legal battles over his immigration policies, Trump said he was looking forward to his meeting with the South American leader.
“Our Nations are working closely together to eradicate terrorist organizations, and build a future of Prosperity. President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States. These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government.
They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again,” Trump wrote ahead of Monday’s visit.Just before the president rolled out the social-media welcome mat, the Boston Enforcement and Removal Operations division of ICE announced the arrests of a pair of “illegal” foreign nationals accused of some very serious crimes.Arrested on April 1, according to ICE, was Gilberto Avila-Jara, a 64-year-old Ecuadoran man arraigned in Lawrence District Court in December of 2020 “for more than 20 offenses including indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, rape of a child with force and aggravated statutory rape of a Child.
”According to ICE, when Avila-Jara was first in police custody, federal officials filed an immigration detainer which “Lawrence District Court refused to honor.” Avila-Jara was subsequently released on bail March 17, 2021.About a month later, the Essex County Superior Court arraigned Avila-Jara for six counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, eight counts of rape of a child with force and eight counts of aggravated statutory rape of a child, according to ICE.
ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said that “there are no appropriate words to describe the amount of damage Gilberto Avila-Jara has allegedly done to our Massachusetts community.”“Children are the most precious and most vulnerable members of our communities, and we will do everything in our power to protect them from illegal sex offenders. ICE Boston remains committed to prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing alien sexual predators from New England,” she said in a statement.
The second arrest occurred in Connecticut in late February, after Carlos Antonio Zepeda-Ruiz was apparently charged “with three counts of risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct.”According to Hyde, Zepeda-Ruiz “presents a threat to the residents of Connecticut.”“We will not allow criminal aliens to endanger the safety of our communities.
ICE Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing illegal alien threats from New England,” she said.During Bukele’s visit on Monday, Trump indicated the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an El Salvadoran man mistakenly deported about a month ago, was up to the El Salvadoran leader.President Bukele then indicated he has no plans to return Abrego Garcia, despite a U.
S. Supreme Court order calling for his return.After that, Trump went so far as to suggest he’s willing to send U.
S. citizens to El Salvador, “if they’re criminals and if they hit people with baseball bats over their head that happen to be 90 years old, if they rape 87 year old women in Coney Island, Brooklyn, yeah. Yeah.
”“What, do you think there’s a special category of person? They’re as bad as anybody that comes in. We have bad ones too, and I’m all for it. Because we can do things with the president for less money and have great security.
And we have a huge prison population. We have a huge number of prisons, and then we have the private prisons, and some are operated well, I guess, and some aren’t, but he does a great job with that,” Trump said.Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of immigrant rights group America’s Voice, said the president’s meeting with Bukele foreshadows a dangerous future for all Americans, regardless of citizenship status.
“What we saw today at the White House should shock every American who cares about our system of checks and balances and the rule of law. The U.S.
Supreme Court has been clear that Mr. Kilmar García should be brought back to his family in Maryland. Yet, today, President Trump said they have no plans to abide by the Court’s ruling and return a man that President Trump’s own Department of Justice acknowledges was mistakenly deported,” Cárdenas said.
“Even more disturbing, during today’s meeting, Trump acknowledged his plan to send U.S. citizens to El Salvador’s prisons.
All of this is a reminder why immigration is the tip of the spear for Trump’s larger assault on key pillars of our democracy and why what’s at stake should alarm Americans of all political persuasions,” she said.This undated photo provided by Murray Osorio PLLC shows Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Murray Osorio PLLC via AP).
