Tom Homan slams calls to abolish ICE as border enforcement hits records
Tom Homan, a key figure in border management, has fiercely criticized progressive calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid a surge in border enforcement activities. Highlighting the gravity of the situation, Homan pointed out that a staggering seventy percent of those apprehended are convicted offenders. He underscored ICE’s pivotal role in saving over 150,000 smuggled children, cautioning about the perilous ramifications of dismantling the agency.
In Massachusetts, ICE agents captured an illegal alien, wanted for a severe murder charge in Brazil, just days before Democratic Governor Maura Healey enacted legislation restricting specific ICE operations within the state.
Maycon Souto Dos Reis, aged 54, was found guilty of aggravated murder in Brazil on September 14, 2024. He received a 14-year, three-month prison sentence following the issuance of an arrest warrant. Fleeing Brazil, the Brazilian national illegally entered the U.S. via the Mexican border in June 2024. Initially detained, he was later released into the country under then-President Joe Biden’s border policy, according to ICE reports.
In a statement, acting ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston Field Office Director David Wesling expressed concern, saying, “This case exemplifies how the media sometimes wrongly labels many of these individuals as non-criminals. In reality, they include murderers, sexual predators, gang affiliates, and more, who simply lack a U.S. criminal record.”
During a targeted operation on August 3 at the Westborough District Court in Westborough, ICE Boston successfully apprehended Maycon Souto Dos Reis, an illegal alien and foreign fugitive from Brazil. (ICE ERO Boston)
“We will continue to pursue these dangerous criminal aliens that sanctuary politicians fight to protect.”
The timing of the Aug. 3 Boston-area arrest corresponded to Healey’s Aug. 5 signing of the PROTECT Act, which keeps ICE out of courthouses, schools, child care centers, hospitals and healthcare facilities, while also providing stronger protections for parents in case they are detained or deported, banning new 287(g) agreements and allowing civil rights claims to be made against government officials, including ICE agents.
“The PROTECT Act is the strongest law in the country to protect people from ICE, because no one should be afraid to send their child to school, seek medical care or fear reporting a crime or appearing in court,” Healey wrote Aug. 5 in a statement announcing the signing of the new restrictions on ICE operations in her state.
“It makes us all less safe. So we are getting ICE out of our courthouses, schools and hospitals. This bill is a testament to the hard work and advocacy of so many people across our state. We’re going to keep working together to make Massachusetts and this country the place we all want it to be.”
Democrat Gov. Maura Healey’s Aug. 5 signing of the PROTECT Act, which keeps ICE out of courthouses, schools, child care centers, hospitals and healthcare facilities. (Lane Turner/The Boston Globe)
Dos Reis initially came to ERO Boston’s attention following his May 29 arrest for unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in Southborough, Massachusetts.
ICE officers arrested him Aug. 3 during a targeted operation at Westborough District Court in Westborough.
ICE officials said Dos Reis had been living in Massachusetts, which has been at the center of clashes between state and federal officials over immigration enforcement. The agency characterized the jurisdiction as one where local policies can complicate federal efforts to locate and arrest immigration offenders.
ICE did not provide additional details about the aggravated murder case in Brazil, including when the killing occurred or the circumstances surrounding Dos Reis’ conviction.
He remains in ICE custody pending the outcome of deportation proceedings, the agency said.
“DHS’s message is clear: If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, arrest you, and you will never return,” ICE wrote in a release Monday, hailing President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s actions to protect legal American citizens.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the United States.”