Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested four illegal immigrants in a 48-hour span earlier this month on Nantucket Island, a tourist attraction in Massachusetts that includes several multimillion-dollar homes.
Authorities arrested Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez, Elmer Sola, Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, and Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo between Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, the Daily Caller reported Tuesday, citing news releases issued by ICE.
All four have been accused of sex crimes against children or others on the island.
"We have been consistent in our promise to prioritize public safety by arresting and removing egregious noncitizen offenders," Todd Lyons, field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston, in the news release on Belafronte. "This is not a hollow expression; it is a sincere promise to the residents of our New England communities."
ICE announced Perez's arrest Tuesday in a news release. Perez, 41, is a Guatemalan who was deported in 2011 following his conviction for reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person.
ICE said he reentered the U.S. at an unknown time and location, and was arraigned by Nantucket District Court on Aug. 19 on a charge of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older. He was then arrested by ERO Boston agents on Sept. 11 and remains in custody.
Sola, 49, and Aldana, 28, are from El Salvador. Each faces charges regarding alleged sex crimes against children.
Nantucket Superior Court arraigned Sola on Aug. 14 on three counts of aggravated rape of a child and eight counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, ICE said in its news release. ERO Boston arrested Sola on Sept. 10, and he remains in custody.
Aldana was arraigned July 26 in Nantucket District Court on 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, and released on bail, according to ICE.
ERO Boston also arrested Aldana on Sept. 10 and served him with a notice to appear in front of a DOJ immigration judge. Aldana remains in custody.
ICE said Belafronte, a Brazilian, legally entered the U.S. but was found to have violated the terms of admission, without providing details, and Belafronte voluntarily left the country in April 2021.
Nantucket police arrested Belafronte in June 2021 and charged him with indecent assault and battery on a person 14 years or older. The next day, Belafronte failed to appear at his arraignment, and Nantucket District Court issued a default warrant for his arrest.
Nantucket police arrested Belafronte on the default warrant on March 12 this year. Later that day, Belafronte was released on bail.
He was arrested by ERO Boston on Sept. 11 and served with a notice to appear before a Department of Justice immigration judge. He remains in ERO custody.
Massachusetts is considered a sanctuary jurisdiction for illegal immigrants by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that tracks such laws across the country, the Daily Caller reported. The group cites a 2017 court decision that limits local authorities' ability to detain migrants wanted by ICE agents.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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