Nantucket Residents Rattled By Arrest Of 5 Illegal Immigrants For Violent Sex Crimes
One of them is charged with
"11 sex offenses against a child..."
Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, and Jennifer Lopez own property here. The island peaks at more than 80,000 visitors in July and August, but the number drops to 14,000 permanent residents in the off-season.
Some residents consider Nantucket Island their tiny paradise and the last place you would expect to see the illegal immigration crisis play out.
September was an especially tough month for the community, as federal agents arrested five undocumented male immigrants on charges related to violence and sex crimes.
“I think people are getting really tired of it,” said Toby Brown, chairman of the Nantucket Republican Town Committee of illegal immigration.
“
Nantucket is a very liberal island. Many want to say it was only five people—but it’s not. It’s way more than five. If there’s five, you know there’s going to be 10.”
Brown said many Nantucket Island residents were surprised when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived in early September to make the arrests.
Many people refuse to talk about the arrests or the illegal immigration problem because they are afraid of being called racist, he said.
All five men had entered the country illegally and settled on Nantucket Island under the state’s radar; most had been arrested on sex charges early this year and were out on bail or personal recognizance.
On Sept. 12, Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston officers arrested Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, 30, a known MS-13 gang member from El Salvador in Nantucket.
Deras-Mejia unlawfully entered the United States, “then made his way to Massachusetts, to apparently commit crimes of violence,” according to ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons in a statement.
“To make matters worse, Deras-Mejia is a documented member of a notorious transnational criminal organization (MS-13) and represents a significant threat to the residents of Nantucket.”
Lyons said that Deras-Mejia entered the country “on an unknown date, at an unknown location, without being inspected, admitted or paroled by a U.S. immigration official.”
Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez, 41, from Guatemala, is charged with indecent assault and battery on a person age 14 or over; Elmer Sola, 49, from El Salvador,
is charged with 11 sex offenses against a child; Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, 30, who is from Brazil, is charged with indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over; and Bryan Daniel Aladana-Arevalo, 28, a Salvadoran, is charged with two counts of indecent
assault and battery on a child under 14.
Manuel Figueroa Vega, 30, immigration status unknown, is being held on $100,000 bail on two counts of aggravated rape of a child with a five-year difference. Local police say the incidents allegedly occurred on July 23 and 25 at a Nantucket residence.