Federal police arrest illegal immigrant accused of raping pregnant woman in Massachusetts

PEABODY, Mass. (TND) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a Haitian national in Massachusetts on Tuesday on suspicion of raping a pregnant woman.

Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston, a unit of ICE, has taken Marc Kervens Beauvais into custody in Peabody. Police arrested him last month on charges of aggravated rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a pregnant victim, and attempted to commit a crime, the agency said.

“Marc Kervens Beauvais is accused of committing unspeakable acts against a pregnant woman in Massachusetts,” ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons said in a press release. “We simply cannot allow someone who poses such a threat to exploit the residents of our communities.”

Beauvais was in the U.S. illegally after crossing the southern border in 2021, ERO Boston reported. According to the press release, he was arrested by Border Patrol, issued a summons to appear and later released.

Republicans have criticized the use of notices to appear, often calling the strategy “catch and release.” Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, said during a visit to Arizona earlier this month that the U.S. should stop using the strategy to help secure the border.

READ MORE | ICE Arrests Illegal Immigrant on Rape Conviction in Maryland: ‘Sexual Predator’

“You just have to reimplement some common sense policies. You have to reimplement ‘Remain in Mexico,’” Senator Vance said, referring to the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, which require some immigrants to remain in Mexico during their legal proceedings.

“You have to stop the catch and release. You have to force asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while they are being adjudicated, and you have to finish this border wall and re-implement deportations,” he added.

Trump and Senator Vance have also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for the way she has handled immigration issues during her political career. Her campaign has pointed to her work as California’s attorney general as evidence of her success.

“I was attorney general of a border state. I went after transnational gangs, drug cartels, human traffickers who came into our country illegally,” Harris said at a rally Saturday. “I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won.”

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