LYNN — A Guatemalan native who lives on South Common Street was arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency Tuesday as part of a four-day operation that netted nearly 500 residents nationwide on immigration violations.
Joseph Pojoy, 24, who faces deportation, was convicted on several counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon including an assault on a police officer, according to ICE.
Lynn police Lt. Michael Kmiec said federal authorities gave the department a heads-up that they planned to arrest Pojoy. Lynn police booked him as a courtesy.
Federal immigration officials said 50 people were arrested in Massachusetts as part of a nationwide sweep focusing on what they called “sanctuary” jurisdictions, which limit local authorities’ cooperation in immigration investigations. Lynn has not been designated a sanctuary city.
Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy said there was no immigration raid in Lynn.
“While ICE agents were in the area, they spotted one person who had a federal immigration warrant outstanding, they took him into custody and booked at the Lynn Police Department as a courtesy,” she said. “That was the extent of the involvement by our police and ICE in the city.”
The Lynn Police Department said rumors of multiple arrests are untrue.
“We do not want these reports to stop residents from calling the police when they need assistance or to prevent anyone from reporting a crime.”
ICE said the operation netted 498 people in the U.S. wanted for immigration violations. Of those, 317 had criminal convictions. ICE said they targeted individuals who have violated U.S. immigration laws, prioritizing aliens with criminal convictions, pending criminal charges, known gang members and affiliates, immigration fugitives and those who re-entered the U.S. after deportation.
Immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act were not targeted, ICE said. The immigration policy allowed some individuals who entered the country as minors to receive a renewable two-year waiting period from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions that do not honor detainers or allow us access to jails and prisons are shielding criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and creating a magnet for illegal immigration,” ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan told Associated Press. “As a result, ICE is forced to dedicate more resources to conduct at-large arrests in these communities.”
ICE alleged the individuals arrested included:
- 317 who had criminal convictions
- 68 who are immigration fugitives;
- 104 who are previously deported criminal aliens; and
- 18 who are gang members or affiliates.
A native of India who was convicted of indecent assault was arrested in Boston.
Homan said local policies of non-cooperation create magnets for illegal immigration, forcing the agency to use more resources in those communities.
Eva A. Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), said the Trump administration is intimidating states and communities into rounding up immigrants for deportation.
“There is not a police department, sheriff or court anywhere that will not honor a criminal arrest warrant,” Millona said in a statement. “We strongly condemn this action, and we urge Gov. Baker and our political leaders to stand with us. We will not be scared into rounding up our own people.”
Material from Associated Press was used in this report.
