ERO Boston arrests Brazilian national charged with rape after Plymouth County honors immigration detainer

BOSTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston arrested Luan Lucas De Sousa Goncalves, 21, Dec. 2. De Sousa is a Brazilian national who unlawfully entered the United States July 22, 2023, and has been charged with rape and indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14. The Plymouth Police Department arrested him on that charge a day before turning him over to ERO Boston.

“De Sousa has been accused of raping and assaulting someone in one of our Massachusetts communities,” said ERO Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “After our colleagues at the Plymouth Police Department arrested him, ERO Boston lodged an immigration detainer. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office, who are wonderful partners in the fight to keep the residents of Massachusetts safe, honored the detainer and turned him over to our custody. We are thankful for all the police departments and sheriff’s offices in Massachusetts that prioritize public safety.”

The Plymouth Police Department notified ERO Boston before it released De Sousa on bond. Shortly after receiving the notification, ERO Boston arrested him at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility.

“Each time our partner agencies honor a detainer, our officers can arrest potentially dangerous noncitizens in safe, controlled environments without exposing the public to unnecessary danger,” said Hyde.

De Sousa will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

As part of its mission to identify and arrest removable noncitizens, ERO lodges immigration detainers against noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity and taken into custody by state or local law enforcement. An immigration detainer is a request from ICE to state or local law enforcement agencies to notify ICE as early as possible before a removable noncitizen is released from their custody. Detainers request that state or local law enforcement agencies maintain custody of the noncitizen for a period not to exceed 48 hours beyond the time the individual would otherwise be released, allowing ERO to assume custody for removal purposes in accordance with federal law.

Detainers are critical public safety tools because they focus enforcement resources on removable noncitizens who have been arrested for criminal activity. Detainers increase the safety of all parties involved — ERO personnel, law enforcement officials, removable noncitizens and the public — by allowing an arrest to be made in a secure and controlled custodial setting as opposed to at-large within the community. Because detainers result in the direct transfer of a noncitizen from state or local custody to ERO custody, they also minimize the potential that an individual will reoffend. Additionally, detainers conserve scarce government resources by allowing ERO to take criminal noncitizens into custody directly rather than expending resources locating these individuals at-large.

ERO is one of ICE’s three operational directorates and the principal federal law enforcement authority in charge of domestic immigration enforcement. ERO’s mission is to protect the homeland through the arrest and removal of those who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws, and its primary areas of focus are interior enforcement operations, management of the agency’s detained and non-detained populations, and repatriation of noncitizens who have received final orders of removal. ERO’s workforce consists of more than 7,700 law enforcement and non-law enforcement support personnel across 25 domestic field offices and 208 locations nationwide, 30 overseas postings, and multiple temporary duty travel assignments along the border.

Members of the public can report crimes and suspicious activity by dialing 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

Learn more about ICE’s mission to increase public safety in our New England communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @EROBoston.