The Department of Homeland Security set the record straight after a Boston official accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement of abducting “a neighbor.”
Last week, Boston City Councilor Enrique Pepén issued a statement concerning an “ICE abduction in Rozzie Square.”
‘ICE did not abduct anyone. We did arrest a criminal that this sanctuary politician and his policies released from their jails to terrorize more innocent Americans.’
“Earlier this morning, in broad daylight, ICE abducted a neighbor right out of their car in front of Family Dollar in Rozzie Square,” he wrote.
Pepén stated that “community members and business owners took immediate action” to notify a local organization providing services to immigrants, document ICE’s vehicles, and move the individual’s car to “a safer location.”
“We are working with our local partners to find out more about the individual taken and how to assist in bringing them back home,” Pepén continued. “To say that this is scary and not right is an understatement.”
Pepén insisted that “no one should be scared to do their daily errands regardless of their status — especially in our vibrant community.”
“Make no mistake, these abductions do not make anyone safe. Neighbors caring for neighbors do and I will continue to fight to get ICE out of our communities,” Pepén concluded.
He encouraged Boston residents to report any ICE sightings.
Enrique Pepen. Photo by Jonathan Wiggs/Boston Globe/Getty Images
The DHS hit back, explaining that ICE officers arrested Jose Perez-Antonio, whom the agency described as “a serial criminal illegal alien” with several charges, including for alleged identity theft and trafficking cocaine and fentanyl.
“Boston City Council member Enrique Pepén needs to stop with the smears,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Boston Herald. “ICE did not abduct anyone. We did arrest a criminal that this sanctuary politician and his policies released from their jails to terrorize more innocent Americans.”
McLaughlin stated that under President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s leadership, those who break the law “will face the consequences.”
“Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.,” she added.
RELATED: ‘Killers bringing terror to our streets’: Swalwell smears ICE agents in heated hearing
Photo by John Moore/Getty Images
Pepén responded to the DHS’ statement in a video on social media.
“They claimed that I was smearing the situation and that I was smearing the agency. The only smearing that I see is the way that ICE is treating our people, the way that they come after our community and are able to continue to wear masks and create havoc and fear amongst our people. And yet we don’t know why, we don’t know what’s going on, we don’t know where people are being taken. That’s the only smearing that I see,” Pepén said.
“Regardless of whether or not this person has a record, ICE agents wreaked havoc in our neighborhood as they have been doing across the country and DHS has been found time and time of falsely reporting their objectives [sic],” he wrote.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
News, Massachusetts, Boston, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Enrique pepen, Enrique pepén, Immigration crisis, Illegal immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Immigration enforcement, Politics