ERO Boston arrests Haitian national charged with sexually assaulting Massachusetts minor

BOSTON - Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully present 18-year-old Haitian national charged with sexually assaulting a minor in Massachusetts. ERO Boston officers arrested Akim Marc Desire Aug. 30 in Attleboro.

"Akim Marc Desire allegedly victimized a minor member of our Massachusetts community," said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons. "We cannot tolerate such potentially dire threat to the welfare of children in our community. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from our New England neighborhoods."

Desire lawfully entered the United States June 4, 2023; however, he violated the terms of his lawful entry.

The Mansfield, Massachusetts, Police arrested Desire Aug. 28 and charged him with indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer and against Desire with the Mansfield Police Department after arrest.

The Attleboro, Massachusetts, District Court arraigned Desire Aug. 29 for the offense of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

Officers from ERO Boston arrested Desire Aug. 30 at the Attleboro District Court and served him with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. Desire 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 ICE 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 a critical public safety tool because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. They increase the safety of all parties involved - ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, the 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. Since 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 Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review, an entity separate from 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.

Members of the public with information regarding noncitizen offenders can 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.

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.

Learn more about ERO Boston's mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.

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