ICE arrests illegal alien charged with forcible rape of Massachusetts child

A Guatemalan citizen who has been living in the U.S. illegally since at least 2011 was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being charged with forcibly raping a Massachusetts child in June.

[RELATED: ‘We work very well with ICE’: Cumberland County Sheriff Defends Decision Not to Honor Immigration Detainers…]

Deportation officers from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston were able to locate and arrest the illegal alien in Lowell, Massachusetts, in late September after he was released from custody by a local court that refused to honor an immigration detainee.

According to ICE, 38-year-old Guatemalan Mayor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas illegally entered the United States at an unknown time and place in what is commonly referred to as an “escape.”

Hernandez has a criminal history in the US dating back to 2011, when he was convicted of breach of peace in Connecticut and served a six-month prison sentence. He was also convicted of the same crime in Connecticut in 2016, for which he was fined $100.

On June 14, 2024, Lowell, Massachusetts police arrested Hernandez for aggravated rape of a child and forcible rape of a child.

ICE says that while they filed an immigration citation against Hernandez on June 28, the Middlesex Superior Court ignored the detainer and released Hernandez from custody at an unknown date.

[RELATED: Maine ACLU Lawyer Likens ICE to Nazi Germany, Urges State to Block Illegal Immigrant Deportations…]

ERO Boston officers arrested Hernandez on September 20 in Lowell. Hernandez remains in ERO custody.

“Mayor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas is accused of horrific crimes against a Massachusetts child,” said Patricia Hyde, acting ERO Boston field director.

“He poses a significant danger to the children of our community that we will not tolerate,” Hyde said. “ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending and removing serious non-citizen threats from our New England neighborhoods.”