PHOTO: ERO Boston arrests Haitian national accused of raping child in Massachusetts migrant shelter/HN edits

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS  — [US IMMIGRATION MEDIA STATEMENT]  –  Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully present 26-year-old Haitian national accused of aggravated rape of a child in a Rockland migrant shelter. Deportation officers from ERO Boston arrested Cory Bernard Alvarez Aug. 13 near his residence in Brockton.

“Cory Bernard Alvarez has been charged with victimizing a minor in a Massachusetts migrant shelter,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. “He will have his day in court and ERO Boston will continue to cooperate with the criminal court system in Massachusetts, but we cannot allow any significant noncitizen threat to the children of our communities to potentially reoffend. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from New England.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection admitted Alvarez into the United States lawfully June 26, 2023, in New York, New York. However, Alvarez violated the terms of his lawful admittance.

The Rockland Police Department arrested Alvarez on March 14. Later that day, the Hingham District Court in Hingham arraigned Alvarez for aggravated rape of a child, 10 years age difference. Later that day, ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer against Alvarez with the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office.

On June 27, however, Plymouth County Superior Court of Brockton refused to honor ERO Boston’s immigration detainer and released Alvarez from custody on a $500 bond.

Deportation officers from ERO Boston arrested Alvarez Aug. 13 near his residence in Brockton. Alvarez remains in ERO custody.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with the Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO is the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

Members of the public with information regarding noncitizen offenders are encouraged to report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.