BOSTON – Officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) arrested a Zimbabwean national, who is facing a felony rape charge, in Boston on Wednesday.
Alois Mutare, 42, a citizen of Zimbabwe, was arrested during routine enforcement actions targeting at-large criminal aliens, illegal reentrants and other immigration violators in New England.
Mutare, who legally entered the U.S. in 1999, significantly violated the terms of his admission and overstayed his temporary visitor status by nearly 20 years and is subject to removal proceedings. He was arrested on felony rape charges by Boston police in December 2019 and indicted earlier this month on those charges. He was arrested by ICE following his release from local criminal court March 4. He will remain in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings before a federal immigration judge.
Mutare was just one of 209 arrests made by ICE officers in recent weeks, including 178 of which were arrests of individuals with convictions or pending criminal charges during the recent enforcement efforts.
Among the arrests made during the enforcement effort were:
A 48 year old citizen of Guatemala convicted of murder and kidnapping and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 15 years to life.
A 29 year old citizen of Liberia and member of the Bloods gang convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and burglary.
A 34 year old, previously-removed citizen of the Dominican Republic charged with homicide and armed robbery in his home country.
The individuals arrested were citizens of the following countries: Angola, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Italy, Ireland, Jamaica, Liberia, Mexico, Portugal, Trinidad, and Zimbabwe.
These individuals had a variety of criminal histories to include convictions or pending criminal charges for rape, drug trafficking (heroin/fentanyl), sexual assault, enticement of a minor for indecent purposes, distribution of cocaine, assault and battery, robbery, burglary, domestic violence, fraud, extortion and forgery.
ERO officers were assisted by personnel from ICE Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection during the enforcement efforts. ICE officers carry out targeted enforcement actions every day in locations around the country as part of the agency’s ongoing efforts to protect the nation, uphold public safety, and protect the integrity of our immigration laws and border controls.
ICE focuses its limited resources first and foremost by targeting those who pose the greatest threat to public safety and border security, and our officers make arrests every single day. The agency’s arrest statistics clearly reflect this. Nationally, approximately 86 percent of ERO’s administrative arrests during fiscal year 2019 either had a criminal conviction or were facing criminal charges at the time of their arrest.
