Crime & Safety
Five People Detained By ICE In Salem
The ordinance affirmed by the city last year does not protect undocumented immigrants from federal law enforcement actions.
SALEM, MA -- Monday's indictment of a Guatemalan man who was charged with reentering the U.S. deportation after he was arrested last year in Salem and a Sunday afternoon raid of a home on Linden Street is showing the limits of Salem's sanctuary city status. Five people were removed from the home on suspicion of being in the country illegally.
On Monday, Virgilio Pedro Vicente-Lopez, 39, a Guatemalan national, and five other people were indicted in federal court in Boston on charges of reentering the U.S. after deportation. Vicente-Lopez was arrested on August 17 in Salem. He had previously been deported in February 2009, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
In November's election Salem voters approved the city's status as a sanctuary city. Last April City Council reaffirmed the city's existing policy that government officials would not require people to show proof of legal immigration status before receiving city services. A petition drive and City Council's failure to rescind the measure in a heated, May 25 meeting put the question on the November ballot to be decided by voters.
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Sunday's arrests and Monday's indictment drew cheers from people posting on the Facebook Page of "No to Sanctuary Salem," a group that had been set up to oppose last year's ballot question. Mayor Kim Driscoll "and her cronies promised these federal offenders fake protection," the group posted under a photo of Sunday's raid. "Reality is, Kim and her cronies can’t do anything when ICE comes knocking. Serves them right! And we, the people, told them so!!!"
The sanctuary city ordinance only prohibits local officials from requiring people to show proof of legal immigration status. The ordinance does not supersede federal law or prevent federal agencies like ICE from enforcing immigration laws.
Find out what's happening in Salemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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Photo by No Sanctuary To Salem.
Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).
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