In recent weeks, Americans have taken to the streets to protest deportations affecting their coworkers, family members, and neighbors. Many of these protests even target the very existence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
At the same time, polls indicate a significant majority of Americans support the deportation of migrants with criminal records, regardless of political affiliation.
For Lyons, the recently appointed head of ICE, the mission is clear: enforce existing immigration laws. While he acknowledges that criminal migrants are the priority, he asserts that ‘everything’s on the table’ when it comes to immigration enforcement.
During a recent interview at ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C., Lyons revealed that the agency has expanded its scope beyond targeting hardened criminals. This includes detaining individuals based on social media group chats and arresting high school and university students.
The current strategy marks a departure from the more restrained approach during President Joe Biden’s administration, which had prohibited ‘collateral arrests’—the detaining of non-criminal individuals found during investigations focused on criminals.
‘If more agencies had just turned people over in a confined setting [law enforcement custody], we wouldn’t be out in the community. We’re going to bump into more people. We can’t walk away from them,’ Lyons explained.
This stance has led to significant enforcement actions, such as last month’s operation in Massachusetts, which resulted in nearly 1,500 migrants being arrested, half of whom were classified as collateral.
Critics say that ICE’s aggressive tactics are aimed at progressive-led regions like Boston, which have implemented sanctuary policies. Tom Homan, the administration’s border czar, threatened to ‘bring hell’ to Boston, highlighting the political undertones of these enforcement strategies.
Yet, Lyons views the situation differently. He describes the challenges as largely self-inflicted by local policies that often lead to the release of immigrants charged or convicted of serious crimes instead of cooperating with ICE.
This issue stems from the 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Lunn v. Commonwealth, which determined that law enforcement officials do not have the authority to detain individuals solely based on civil ICE detainers.
Despite this, Lyons argues that local police could still communicate with ICE. ‘Lunn just says you can’t hold anybody on our detainers,’ he noted. ‘But that doesn’t mean the Mass. State Police can’t pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, we got this guy on the side of the road.’’
He alleges that some political leaders in the state actively obstruct this kind of communication. However, there are instances where local police informally support ICE operations, as seen with Joint Base Cape Cod, which served as a temporary shelter for migrants.
During the same interview, Lyons recounted an incident where a State Police official indicated they had located a murder suspect from Venezuela but were unable to hand him over to ICE. However, he claimed another law enforcement official suggested that he could be picked up if ICE showed up at the front gate.
This blend of cooperation and conflict reflects a complex relationship between local and federal law enforcement regarding immigration enforcement.
On Martha’s Vineyard, Lyons reported that local police departments had assisted ICE in locating individuals during recent mass arrests, although he did not specify which departments were involved. The Vineyard has six separate police departments without a unified chief, and County Sheriff Robert Ogden stated that he was unaware of the operation.
In his conversation, Lyons emphasized the personal stakes involved in these enforcement actions, recounting a heartbreaking loss in his family due to a fentanyl overdose. Investigations traced the origin of the fentanyl back to a Dominican drug dealer who had previously been deported from his office.
‘Night after night after night, Lawrence PD, Lowell PD, Methuen, Boston, have [custody of] these fentanyl dealers, three or four times,’ he argued, noting that many had reentered the country after deportation.
The question remains whether the immigration enforcement system can be reformed to satisfy critics from both political parties, who have spoken negatively about its current state. Lyons expressed openness to congressional rewrites of the law, suggesting that streamlining the process could help focus resources on criminal migrants.
He also criticized the Biden Administration’s handling of migrants, citing false promises of asylum for many who now find themselves in legal limbo. A more efficient system, he contends, should allow individuals to apply for asylum from their home countries instead of enduring perilous journeys to the U.S. only to navigate a convoluted legal process.
Until substantial changes are implemented, Lyons remains committed to enforcing existing laws. He recounted experiences from his previous work as a police officer in Florida, where he would sometimes feel a sense of pity for individuals caught in violations, but reminded himself, ‘It’s still a law.’
‘That’s kind of the predicament I’m in,’ he concluded, grappling with the human costs of strict immigration enforcement.
image source from：bostonglobe
