U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has apprehended an illegal alien from Guatemala in Massachusetts, who was charged with multiple counts of child rape.
ICE said 49-year-old Jose Fernando-Perez was taken into custody in Framingham, Massachusetts on Feb. 2. He had previously been charged with three counts of forcible rape of a child and three counts of aggravated rape of a child.
“Jose Fernando-Perez has been charged with some horrific crimes against a minor in our commonwealth,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said. “He is exactly the type of alien we are targeting with our ‘worst first’ policy. He posed a significant danger to the children of Massachusetts, and we will not tolerate such a threat to our community.”
According to ICE, Fernando entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown date and location, without being inspected, admitted or paroled by an immigration official.
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In December 2005, Fernando was arraigned in Lynn District Court for leaving the scene of an accident with property damage and for having inaccurate license plates attached to the vehicle. He was ultimately convicted of the charges on Oct. 19, 2012.
He was arraigned again in Lynn District Court on April 19, 2022, but this time for rape of a child by force.
The court dismissed the case because of an indictment in the superior court, ICE noted.
On May 16, 2022, ICE lodged an immigration detainer against Fernando with the Essex County House of Correction, though the Essex County Superior Court ignored the detainer and released him on pretrial conditions on Oct. 6, 2022.
On Feb. 2, Fernando was apprehended, and since then, ICE officers have served him with a notice to appear before an immigration judge with the Department of Justice. ICE said Fernando currently remains in custody.
Democratic Massachusetts Gov. Maura Gov. Maura Healey said in November that her state police will “absolutely not” be cooperating with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts, warning that she will use “every tool in the toolbox” to “protect” residents in the blue state.
But last month, she changed her tune, noting that her state is not a sanctuary state, despite a 2017 ruling by the state Supreme Judicial Court that severely limits law enforcement cooperation with ICE.
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“I still remain opposed on efforts to target large swaths of an undocumented population who’ve done nothing wrong other than they’re here without lawful presence,” she said.
Healey has taken a slightly more centrist position on immigration enforcement in recent months.
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After an illegal migrant was caught using the state’s migrant shelter system for illegal activity, Healey said she was “outraged,” She ordered a full inspection of the system and sent a letter to Massachusetts legislative leaders, urging them to amend the state’s “right to shelter” laws to exclude illegal immigrants.
At the time, she commented that Trump now has the opportunity to fix the border and said, “I hope he does.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, however, continues to staunchly oppose the Trump administration’s crackdown.
In fact, she took to social media several times last month to express her anger over Trump’s immigration decisions, saying in one X post that “State & local law enforcement cannot be commandeered for federal immigration enforcement. Despite what President Trump may think, he doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally rewrite our Constitution.”
Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Peter Pinedo, Stephen Sorace and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
