BOSTON (CMC) – The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says officers with in Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Boston, Massachusetts have arrested an unlawfully present Haitian national on violation of immigration charges.

ICE said last week that the Haitian was convicted of breaking into and setting fire to a church in 2017 and will now remain in IC custody pending deportation proceedings.

The Haitian national, whose identity was not released, entered the United States in August 2015 as a nonimmigrant and violated the terms of his admission, ICE said.

In 2017, it said he was convicted of illegally entering and setting fire to a church building in Methuen, Massachusetts.

“Immigration law violators convicted of dangerous criminal behavior have no place in our neighborhoods,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons. “ERO Boston officers continue to protect the security of our residents from such violent criminals who pose a real threat to the public safety of our communities.”

ICE said noncitizens placed into removal proceedings receive their legal due process from US federal immigration judges in the immigration courts, which are administered by the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR).

EOIR is an agency within the US Department of Justice and is separate from the US Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Immigration judges in these courts make decisions based on the merits of each individual case. ICE officers carry out the removal decisions made by the federal immigration judges.

In fiscal year 2022, ICE said 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, ICE said.