ICE arrested nearly 1,500 illegal imigrants in Massachusetts last month

Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald on Jun 2, 2025

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BOSTON — Federal immigration authorities announced the arrest of nearly 1,500 people living in Massachusetts illegally but offered few details about those who are now in custody after a monthlong “enforcement operation.”

The uptick in immigration enforcement activity was part of “Operation Patriot,” a surge in arrests led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The arrests have generated criticism from Democrats around immigrants’ due process rights, but praise from Republicans who are pushing for more deportations under President Donald Trump.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said officers from a range of agencies, like ICE, the FBI, and U.S. Coast Guard, arrested 1,461 people throughout May who were living in the country illegally, including 790 charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States or abroad.

“Make no mistake, ICE is going to keep doing this,” Lyons told reporters Monday afternoon at the federal courthouse in Boston. “This operation proved that we need to do more. While this operation was going on, and the brave men and women from all these agencies were out conducting operations, more criminal aliens were being released into the community.”

The agency did not release the names of the people who were arrested and only offered sparse details about a handful of cases, like an “illegally present 55-year-old Salvadoran national with an active Interpol Red Notice” for a series of crimes like aggravated homicide and robbery.

James Covington, the regional communications director for ICE, said the agency does not plan to release all the names of those arrested.

“We don’t do that,” he told reporters when pressed on the matter after a formal press conference had ended.

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