Healey’s Anti-ICE Bias Clouds Reality [OPINION]

Massachusetts Attorney General, Democrat Maura Healey has again made it clear that she is more interested in protecting criminal illegal aliens than in enforcing the law. Healey, to no one's surprise, has issued a report slamming the Bristol County Sheriff's Office for its handling of a riot by ICE detainees at the Bristol County House of Corrections in Dartmouth on May 1.

Sheriff Tom Hodgson says the problem began when 10 federal immigration detainees at the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center, who showed signs of COVID-19, refused to be tested, barracked themselves inside the facility, and "trashed the entire unit," causing some $25,000 in damage. Hodgson himself was injured when a detainee allegedly struck him with a chair.

WBSM News reports, "The AG's 60-page investigatory report describes “institutional failures and poor decisions” by leadership at the sheriff's office that culminated in a “calculated use of force” that “unnecessarily caused or risked harm to everyone involved."

Healey, an advocate for illegal aliens in Massachusetts, has been critical of ICE and has openly campaigned against funding for the Trump Administration's border wall. Healey has also advised migrants in Mexico about how to enter the country. 

Hodgson released a statement yesterday critical of Healey's findings, saying the report is “littered with baseless allegations and assumptions, and was clearly written and released to advance her long-documented anti-ICE, pro-illegal immigrant political agenda.”

Healey says her Civil Rights Division conducted numerous interviews concerning the events of May 1, but the CRD never questioned Hodgson. “Why would the AG’s staff interview community advocates but not ask Sheriff Hodgson a single question?” Hodgson’s office asked.

Hodgson says his staff "risked their lives to quell a violent altercation with criminal illegal aliens on May 1 and did so with the utmost professionalism." He said his office stands by the response to the incident, "and look(s) forward to the results of the truly independent investigation currently being worked on by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.”

The Bristol County Sheriff's Department did what it needed to do to quell a riot by violent criminal illegal aliens during the early stages of a pandemic. The sheriff's staff should be lauded for bringing a dangerous situation under control as quickly as they did with minimal injuries. 

Healey is a political hack with an agenda that includes crusading for violent criminal illegal aliens and not the citizens of Massachusetts.

Shame on you, Maura Healey.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.