ICE in partnership with state and local law enforcement across Massachusetts has arrested 55 permanent residents and 25 illegal aliens involved in gang activity in the state. The four-day operation was part of ICE’s Operation Community Shield initiative, which targets violent transnational street gangs. ICE plans to deport the illegal aliens and will attempt to remove the permanent residents based on their criminal histories.

An ICE press release indicated the arrestees represent 24 different transnational gangs, including Tiny Rascals, Bloods, Crips, 18th Street, MS-13 and the Deuce Boys. All had criminal records that included convictions for Assault and Battery on a Police Officer, Assault and Battery Dangerous Weapon, Assault and Battery, Domestic, Larceny, Malicious Destruction of Property, Breaking and Entering. The gang members came from Barbados, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Columbia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Portugal, Trinidad and Vietnam.

....Since ICE started Operation Community Shield in 2005, the initiative has been responsible for arrested 10,000 transnational gang members.