Nantucket, Mass. , Local parents fear for their children’s safety after federal agents nab five illegal immigrantIncluding a member of the gang MS-13, notorious for alleged crimes, including the sexual assault of children on this picturesque island.
Eric Evans, who has lived here massachusetts island The 31-year-old has lived off Cape Cod and has an 8-year-old daughter, told Fox News Digital that the arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month underscore how the city has changed in recent years .
The growing expatriate population, which largely serves the summer crowds, remains when the weather turns cooler, and a handful have reportedly committed crimes rarely seen here.
Felix Alberto Pérez-Gomez, a 41-year-old illegal immigrant from Guatemala, was charged with a sex crime against a Nantucket resident. (ICE ERO-Boston)
Evans said, “How are these last five people arrested who are rapists and (violent criminals) who are working here and walking into our grocery store and passing us at the gas station? It’s just … This is not what Nantucket used to be.”
“I’m very glad that ICE was here and was able to do their job and get rid of at least some of the bad people that were on the island. Obviously there are a lot of people. And, as a community, it scares me.” As a father, this really scares me, and I’d like to see more happen.”
Evans, a construction worker, said the island’s wealthy seasonal residents who want “to have it all tomorrow” have attracted an influx of illegal immigrants.
Tommy Hilfiger, former Secretary of State John Kerry, actor Ben Stiller and actress Kathie Lee Gifford are among the rich and powerful who own homes on the idyllic island, which has a population of about 14,000.
“They can cut wood or they can hammer nails,” Evans said. “And, you know, I wonder who is hiring these people. Do they do background checks on them?”
On September 10, 28-year-old Salvadoran migrant Brian Daniel Aldana-Arévalo was charged with one count of rape of a child with a 10-year age difference and two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 years of age.
ERO Boston on Thursday announced the arrest on September 12 of 30-year-old Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejía, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant and documented member of MS-13. (ICE ERO-Boston)
ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a press release at the time of her arrest that Aldana-Arevalo “represents a significant threat to the children of our Massachusetts communities”. His alleged victim was just 12 years old, the Nantucket Current reports.
That day, Aldana-Arevalo and Elmer Solá, another Salvadoran migrant, were charged with 11 counts of sex crimes against a child, which Lyons said had occurred in Nantucket, leading them quietly through the ferry in handcuffs. Moved to the mainland in .
According to the Nantucket Current, Sola was arraigned, charged and released with an ankle monitor on August 14, on the condition that he stay away from the victim and the victim’s family. But, nine days later, he returned to court after allegedly violating the pre-trial conditions of his release.
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On September 11, agents returned to the iconic vacation spot to arrest illegal Brazilian immigrant Juan do Amaral Belafronte and Guatemalan illegal immigrant Félix Alberto Pérez-Gómez. Lyons said the two had committed sex crimes against Nantucket residents.
Bellafronte entered the US legally in 2018, but left voluntarily in 2021 after the alleged attack. He re-entered the country illegally and was picked up on an arrest warrant in March. Following his arraignment, Nantucket District Court released him on $500 cash bail or a $5,000 surety bond, according to court records and Boston ERO.
Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended Brian Daniel Aldana-Arévalo, a 28-year-old Salvadoran citizen who was unlawfully present, and charged him with multiple sex crimes against a child on Nantucket Island. (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
According to a police report reviewed by Nantucket StreamBellafronte pinned his alleged victim to the ground with his hands over her head and said, “I’m going to rape you” and licked her lips with his tongue while she kept her mouth closed.
Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, a member of El Salvador’s reputed MS-13 gang, was taken into custody by the agency on the island on September 12. Lyon said Deras-Mejia “represents a significant threat to the residents of Nantucket.”
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Deras-Mejia was arrested in July at Discovery Playground on Old South Road. Nantucket police wrote that he was “intoxicated and cursing, waving his arms, yelling loudly and distracting all civilians at the scene” and that he saw crying children at the scene. Left. Reportedly, he and his child’s mother were arguing over who would take their child home Nantucket StreamIn August, he was arrested again for assault and battery on a household member.
Another Nantucket father, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the arrest of a gang member took place right next door to his daughter’s preschool.
“It’s a bit scary, knowing there are people like this living here,” the father said outside The Mews, a reservoir frequented by locals. “The reaction from some people is that ‘(immigrants here) are scared (after the ICE arrests).’ Well, I have kids and I think it’s scary that these people are living here.”
A 39-year-old woman who has lived in Nantucket since she was 4 and has a daughter enrolled in Nantucket Intermediate School told Fox News Digital the details of illegal immigrants’ crimes — and the reactions of her neighbors and friends . The ICE raids – were unsettling.
“On Facebook, (the local newspaper) is covering it a lot. They’ll post it and no one will say anything,” he said. “I feel like people are afraid to say, you know, like, ‘(Good for ICE). Glad it’s happening.’ You know, it’s crickets.”
When Evans was asked if she was concerned about her child’s safety in the community following her arrest, she said, “Of course, I think so.”
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“My daughter goes to school, and after school, she goes to the Boys & Girls Club. But, I mean, they hang out there. …And because of the number of kids, there’s never enough chaperones or people there. There are no people who can really keep an eye on all these kids,” he said.
Evans told Fox News Digital that “there are Ring doorbell cameras everywhere” on Nantucket these days and that several “big alarm system companies” have popped up on the island in recent years.
He said, “Our local newspaper comes out every Thursday. And the crime reports… are dramatically bigger in the last few years than they used to be.” “There are always at least 15 to 20 different people that are in court reports, and those episodes range anywhere from drunk driving, OUI arrests, (and) multiple domestic assaults. Domestic abuse drugs. .
“Obviously, you know, we’re not really sure where any safe place is anymore.”
Boston ERO told Fox News Digital that before this month, immigration officials had not come to the island to make arrests since 2017.
“I never imagined what we have now,” Evans said. “And it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
