BOSTON – Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested a Zimbabwean national, who is facing a felony rape charge, in Boston on Wednesday.

Alois Mutare, 42, a citizen of Zimbabwe, was arrested during routine enforcement actions targeting at-large criminal aliens, illegal reentrants and other immigration violators in New England.

Mutare, who legally entered the U.S. in 1999, significantly violated the terms of his admission and overstayed his temporary visitor status by nearly 20 years and is subject to removal proceedings. He was arrested on felony rape charges by Boston police in December 2019 and indicted earlier this month on those charges. He was arrested by ICE following his release from local criminal court March 4. He will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings before a federal immigration judge.

Mutare was just one of 209 arrests made by ICE officers in recent weeks, including 178 of which were arrests of individuals with convictions or pending criminal charges during the recent enforcement efforts.

“These arrests are just one more indicator of the threat that sanctuary policies pose to our communities,” said Todd M. Lyons, acting field office director for ERO Boston. “Our officers will continue to arrest public safety threats that are released back to the communities, even as we remain committed to working with our local law enforcement partners to keep communities in the region safe.”

Among the arrests made during the enforcement effort were:

A 48 year old citizen of Guatemala convicted of murder and kidnapping and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 15 years to life.

A 29 year old citizen of Liberia and member of the Bloods gang convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and burglary.

A 34 year old, previously-removed citizen of the Dominican Republic charged with homicide and armed robbery in his home country.

The individuals arrested were citizens of the following countries: Angola, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Ireland, Jamaica, Liberia, Mexico, Portugal, Trinidad, and Zimbabwe.

These individuals had a variety of criminal histories to include convictions or pending criminal charges for rape, drug trafficking (heroin/fentanyl), sexual assault, enticement of a minor for indecent purposes, distribution of cocaine, assault and battery, robbery, burglary, domestic violence, fraud, extortion and forgery.

ERO officers were assisted by personnel from ICE Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the enforcement efforts. ICE officers carry out targeted enforcement actions every day in locations around the country as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the nation, uphold public safety, and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls.

ICE focuses its limited resources first and foremost by targeting those who pose the greatest threat to public safety and border security, and our officers make arrests every single day. The agency’s arrest statistics clearly reflect this. Nationally, approximately 86 percent of ERO’s administrative arrests during fiscal year 2019 either had a criminal conviction or were facing criminal charges at the time of their arrest.

Sanctuary Policies Put Public Safety at Risk

When law enforcement agencies don’t honor ICE detainers, these individuals, who often have significant criminal histories, are released onto the street, presenting a potential public safety threat. Any local jurisdiction thinking that refusing to cooperate with ICE will result in a decrease in local immigration enforcement is mistaken. Local jurisdictions that choose to not cooperate with ICE are likely to see an increase in ICE enforcement activity, as ICE the agency has no choice but to conduct more at-large arrest operations. A consequence of ICE being forced to make more arrests on the streets is the agency is likely to encounter other unlawfully present foreign nationals that wouldn’t have been encountered had we been allowed to take custody of a criminal target within the confines of a local jail. Additionally, once these criminals are out on the street, confirming their whereabouts is often time consuming and resource intensive. Many of our arrest targets are seasoned criminals who are savvy about eluding law enforcement. Despite the severe challenges that local policies have created for ICE, we remain committed to our public safety mission and we will continue to do our sworn duty to seek out dangerous criminal aliens and other immigration violators. ICE seeks straightforward cooperation with all local law enforcement and elected officials. ICE officers carry out targeted enforcement actions every day in locations around the country as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the nation, uphold public safety, and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls.

ERO Boston’s Area of Responsibility includes Massachusetts and the five other states of the New England region; Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.