*** WATCH *** WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KAROLINE LEAVITT: ‘WE WILL CONTINUE TO REMOVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIMINALS…’
ABOVE PHOTOS: White House press briefing – January 31, 2025 – White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addresses reporters on how President Trump’s administration intends to deal with the frequent issue of local illegal immigrant crime that has been happening across the entire United States. INSERT: The ERO photo shows, as HN recently reported, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s “Enforcement and Removal Operations” (ERO) agents with an arrested Brazilian national (who was in the U.S. Illegally) and who was wanted on the felony charges of rape and extortion with threat of injury. The above insert shows ICE ERO agents standing with their suspect outside of Barnstable Police Headquarters in Hyannis. “This was the second time ERO had arrested Agnaldo Moreira da Cruz, 29, after two separate incidents where the Barnstable County Correctional Facility and subsequently the Barnstable Superior Court released him from custody, not honoring an ICE detainer and the conditions of a Writ of Habeas Corpus between ERO and Massachusetts,” an ICE media statement reads.
The ICE media statement continues: “Moreira Da Cruz has been accused of very serious violent felonies, including rape and extortion with threat of injury. This is not someone you want to release into the community, but twice now our detainers have been ignored. Most recently, the Barnstable Superior Court ignored their own court order requiring that he be returned to our custody. These decisions have repeatedly put the citizens of Massachusetts at risk of being victimized by an alleged dangerous offender.”
According to sources, police officers in Yarmouth initially arrested Moreira da Cruz on Aug. 25, 2023, charging him with the offenses of rape and extortion by threat of injury. Moreira da Cruz was arraigned in Barnstable District Court and Boston ERO reportedly placed a detainer on Moreira da Cruz on the date of his arrest.
On November 8, 2023, the Barnstable Superior Court reportedly indicted Moreira da Cruz on the felony charges. Moreira da Cruz was held at the Barnstable County Correctional Facility until the ICE detainer was ignored and he was released from criminal custody on June 18, 2024.
ERO Boston reportedly located and arrested Moreira da Cruz a second time on October 16, 2024 and, after receiving a Habeas Corpus request, turned him over to the Barnstable Superior Court on Nov. 27 with another detainer.
The Barnstable County Correctional Facility then, according to ICE, held Moreira da Cruz without bail until Dec. 5, 2024, when the Barnstable Superior court released him from criminal custody pending his criminal charges and, once again, did not honor the ICE detainer or the conditions of the Habeas Corpus.
Moreira da Cruz was arrested again and remained in ICE custody pending immigration and criminal proceedings, a January 7, 2025 media statement reads.
The issue of local jurisdictions ignoring immigration detainers is an ongoing issue in certain parts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts… as well as in certain parts of the entire country as a whole.
The following HN Video contains excerpts from yesterday’s press briefing – Friday, January 31, 2025 – where Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt highlights the Trump Administration’s plan to rectify the recurring issue of illegal immigrant crime in local communities, not only here on Cape Cod, but across the entire country.
Arrests of illegal immigrants with serious criminal histories have been happening across the state, despite political interference from some jurisdictions. A recent HN article entitled “FEDS: ICE BOSTON ARRESTS SALVADORAN CHARGED W/ RAPING MASS. RESIDENT… PLUS OTHER ILLEGALS W/ SERIOUS CRIMINAL HISTORIES ARRESTED IN JANUARY…” highlights some of those recent arrests – CLICK HERE.
(Also note that HN has reached out to ERO Boston in hopes of documenting and sharing some of their local operations in the near future. Fingers crossed! Stay tuned.)
The following HN video highlights yesterday’s White House press briefing…
[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]
P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by Kool & The Gang… [CLICK IT/CRANK IT! HEADPHONES ABSOLUTELY OBLIGATORY!]
