Andy McCarthy scoffs at sanctuary state DA’s threats to charge ICE agent for detaining illegal immigrant

Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy scoffed at Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s threats to bring charges against an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent for detaining an illegal immigrant outside of Boston, Massachusetts.

A Boston judge held ICE agent Brian Sullivan in contempt on Monday for allegedly “violating” the rights of Wilson Martell-Lebron, an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, by detaining him while he was on trial, The Associated Press reported. As Hayden is considering bringing charges against the ICE agent, McCarthy said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” that it is standard practice to have a defendant detained during a trial.

“I was just gonna say, we have defendants who are in custody on trial all the time. The fact that you’re in custody doesn’t mean your right to present a defense has been in any way compromised. It’s just absurd,” McCarthy said.

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Martell-Lebron was on trial for allegedly providing a false identity on his driver’s license application, which Judge Mark Summerville later dismissed, according to the AP. The judge then issued a contempt ruling against the ICE agent, saying that his actions “couldn’t be more serious.”

“It’s a case of violating a defendant’s right to present at trial and confront witnesses against him,” Summerville said. “It couldn’t be more serious.”

Hayden then said that any possible charges against Sullivan are “under consideration,” adding that the ICE agent’s move to detain the illegal immigrant is “troubling and extraordinarily reckless,” according to CBS News.

ICE has conducted several operations to arrest criminal illegal immigrants in Massachusetts since President Donald Trump began his second term. Agents apprehended 370 illegal immigrants with egregious criminal records in Massachusetts during an “enhanced targeted enforcement operation” from March 18 to March 23, according to a press release.

McCarthy further said sanctuary states and cities are attempting to prevent officials from carrying out their federal responsibilities, which includes immigration enforcement.

“Well I think we tolerated for too long, Dana [Perino], the idea that we can have sanctuaries in the United States,” McCarthy said. “When they talk about sanctuaries or safe havens, what they mean you’re insulated from is the enforcement of federal law and the courts have been very clear that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility … Whether we like it or not, it is a federal responsibility and if state officials interfere with it, they are holding themselves open, possibly, to even felony charges.”

Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has reaffirmed the city’s sanctuary city status and has reportedly ignored ICE’s detainer requests. An ICE spokesperson confirmed to the Boston Herald that the city ignored a total of 198 immigration detainer requests on illegal migrants who had been charged with “egregious criminal activity” throughout 2024.

The Trump administration has mitigated the border crisis occurring under former President Joe Biden’s administration by deporting more than 100,000 illegal immigrants and by arresting over 113,000 migrants since reentering office on Jan. 20, the New York Post reported on Tuesday. Border Patrol counted roughly 7,180 border crossings in March, which broke the record for the all-time lowest number of crossings in a single month.

Federal judges have attempted to interfere with Trump’s mass deportation efforts, including U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who tried to block the deportation of over 200 members of Tren de Agua to El Salvador in late March.

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