Elon Musk attacks Mass. policies after migrant arrests

State and national leaders are taking aim at some Massachusetts officials amid the roiling debate over immigration and potential mass deportations under President-elect Donald Trump.

Elon Musk, a close Trump ally who's been tapped to help the incoming administration, posted Wednesday on his social media platform X about the arrests of three unauthorized migrants in Massachusetts who were convicted or charged with sex crimes against children.

In his comments about the arrests, Musk wrote "Why are 'sanctuary' cities protecting child rapists? Unconscionable. Any politician who does so should be recalled immediately."

Massachusetts officials have pledged no such protections for migrants accused of crimes. Some, including Attorney General Andrea Campbell, have promised to stand up to the Trump administration if it follows through on a threat of mass deportations of people in the country without authorization.

Federal immigration officials on Wednesday said they detained Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz, 21, a Guatemalan national charged with rape of a child and indecent assault and battery against a minor in Great Barrington. The announcement said police arrested De Paz-Munoz in February, but he was released on bail before he could be detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. The agency's Enforcement and Removal Operations division in Boston arrested De Paz-Munoz in Great Barrington earlier this month.

The announcement follows the Nov. 18 arrest in Methuen of Alexandre Romao De Oliveira, 41, a Brazilian national convicted of child rape in his home country and then fleeing in 2022 to the United States. In October, ICE arrested Andre Tiago Lucas, 36, in Bourne; he's charged with fleeing his native Brazil after a 2016 conviction there on charges of raping a 13-year-old.

Immigration advocates estimate about two dozen Massachusetts communities have a type of "sanctuary city" policy where local law enforcement cannot arrest someone based solely on immigration status and are not required to assist with federal immigration enforcement.

Gov. Maura Healey has so far struck a cautious tone on mass deportations but said the Massachusetts State Police will not be deployed to assist in arresting immigrants. She also has said she hopes Trump and the new Congress will secure the southern border.

"Immigration enforcement is the job of federal authorities," Healey said in a statement Thursday. "Violent criminals should be deported, and they are. As a former prosecutor and Attorney General, that has always been my position, and state law enforcement have assisted in investigations of drug, guns and human trafficking. I expect that to continue. I do not, however, support efforts to round up millions of families who’ve lived here a long time, people who are gainfully employed, and many who have kids here. I don’t think it’s humane or smart economically, and it will crater some of our major industries across the country."

Earlier this week, Trump's pick for border czar, Tom Homan, criticized Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for saying the city will not help with federal mass deportation efforts. Wu cited Boston's Trust Act, implemented in 2014, which bars local police from holding immigrants for possible deportation unless a criminal warrant has been issued for that person’s arrest.

“Either she helps us, or she gets the hell out of the way, because we’re going to do it,” Homan told the conservative news outlet Newsmax this week.

The Chair of the Massachusetts Republican party, Amy Carnevale, called the comments by Healey and Wu "appalling and disgusting."

"When our state's top leaders go on television to proclaim that Massachusetts will protect illegal immigrants and refuse to cooperate with ICE, they send a dangerous message that invites more of this behavior into our communities," Carnevale said in an emailed statement. "It's time for Democrats to put politics aside and work with federal authorities to end this alarming pattern in Massachusetts."