ERO Boston arrests Brazilian national charged with sex crimes in Massachusetts

BOSTON — Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston apprehended an unlawfully present 35-year-old Brazilian national charged with of assault to rape, indecent assault and battery over 14, and domestic assault and battery in Massachusetts. Deportation officers from ERO Boston arrested Jackson Bento-Pinheiro Aug. 13 in Wakefield.

U.S. Border Patrol arrested Bento July 10, 2021, after he unlawfully entered the United States near San Ysidro, California. The next day, Border Patrol officials served Bento with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge and released him under the Alternatives to Detention program.

Bento reported to ERO Boston Aug. 22, 2021. Later that day, he was terminated from the ATD program.

The Lowell District Court issued a warrant for Bento’s arrest April 26 for the offense of violation of an abuse prevention order.

The Wakefield Police Department arrested Bento August 13 for the offenses of assault to rape, indecent assault and battery over 14 and domestic assault and battery. Later that day, ERO Boston issued an immigration detainer against Bento with the Wakefield Police Department.

Deportation officers from ERO Boston arrested Jackson Bento-Pinheiro Aug. 13 in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He remains in ERO custody.

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 U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement 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.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Alternatives to Detention program, which began in 2004, uses technology and case management to ensure noncitizen compliance with release conditions, court hearings and final orders of removal. The program allows ICE to exercise increased supervision over a subset of those on ICE’s docket, using several different monitoring technologies. ATD effectively increases court appearance rates, compliance with release conditions, and helps the participants meet their basic needs and understand their immigration obligations.

ATD-ISAP is not a form of custody as defined under 8 C.F.R. § 1236.1(d)(1) as it does not entail physical restraint or confinement within a given space. Some ATD-ISAP participants, however, may be assigned a limited curfew.

Those who are released from custody and enrolled in ATD must comply with the terms and conditions of their release, including appearances at all scheduled court hearings and compliance with ATD requirements. Depending on the circumstances of the case, failure to comply may result in an immigration judge issuing a final order in absentia and may render a noncitizen a priority for arrest and removal by ICE. As with any noncitizen in the United States without lawful status, ICE officers make enforcement decisions on a case-by-case basis to focus on the greatest threats to homeland security in a professional and responsible manner informed by their experience as law enforcement officers.

ERO conducts removals of individuals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States, including at the order of immigration judges with Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. The Executive Office for Immigration Review is a separate entity from the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case, determining if a noncitizen is subject to a final order of removal or eligible for certain forms of relief from removal.

Members of the public with information regarding noncitizen offenders can report crimes or suspicious activity by dialing the ICE Tip Line at 866-DHS-2-ICE (866-347-2423) or completing the online tip form.

As one of ICE’s three operational directorates, ERO is 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.

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