It’s a good thing Antonio Jose De Abreu Vidal Filho was caught in Rye, NH on Monday. If he had been in one of Massachusetts’ migrant havens such as Amherst, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton, Northampton, Somerville or Boston, the ICE arrest of the multiple murderer might not have been such a slam dunk.
Filho, one of the world’s most wanted illegal immigrants, had escaped a 275-year prison sentence in his native Brazil before Boston ICE agents busted him.
To hear progressives tell it, illegal immigrants are all good people who want a better life for themselves and their families. Most are – but it’s the ones who bring their criminal pasts with them across the border that make vigilance necessary.
As the Herald reported, Interpol had a Red Notice on Filho, listing him as wanted for murder, attempted murder, physical torture and mental torture.
The former Brazilian military police officer was sentenced for 11 murders after defecting, Brazilian newspaper El Globo reported. He had already in the U.S. with his family when a jury found him guilty of the murders, the paper wrote.
While New Hampshire doesn’t have any sanctuary cities, the idea has been debated in the legislature, recently in the form of a bill to ban them. The N.H. Senate passed the bill, but the House shot it down. Democratic senators opposed to the ban called the legislation “a threat to democracy,” according to NHJournal.
That’s the same message from Massachusetts’ progressives: ICE is the villain, deportation is bad, illegal immigrants are victims.
Their silence is deafening following arrests of illegal immigrants caught up in drug busts, firearm trafficking, rape, murder, and in the case of Filho, a laundry list of heinous charges. The rallying cry for proponents of sweeping sanctuary laws is the same: no immigrant should have to live in fear.
No one should have to live in fear of unvetted criminals who cross the border and are protected from deportation from the “good people” who see law enforcement as agents against democracy.
“The apprehension of this very dangerous foreign fugitive is an outstanding example of the professionalism and expertise of the officers of ERO Boston,” said Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons.
In fiscal year 2022, ERO arrested 46,396 noncitizens with criminal histories. This group had 198,498 associated charges and convictions, including 21,531 assault offenses; 8,164 sex and sexual assault offenses; 5,554 weapons offenses; 1,501 homicide-related offenses; and 1,114 kidnapping offenses.
These are the bad guys, not the officers who work to keep them off our streets and out of our communities. They are no doubt outnumbered by immigrants who are working toward citizenship, putting down roots, building businesses, raising children and contributing to America.
They are victims as well – of progressive policies that can’t differentiate between criminals and law-abiding citizens, protecting the former while exposing the latter to danger.
Kudos to the officers of ERO Boston for apprehending Filho.
