Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested a lawful permanent United States resident for alleged crimes related to immigration fraud and Haitian gang activity.
“On July 17, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations arrested Pierre Reginald Boulos, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. and citizen of Haiti, for violating the Immigration and Nationality Act contributing to the destabilization of Haiti,” ICE told Fox News.
Boulos is accused of inciting violence and gang support in Haiti, which ICE claims has destabilized the country and may have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
“The Department of State has determined that certain individuals with U.S. lawful permanent resident status have supported and collaborated with Haitian gang leaders connected to Viv Ansanm, a Haitian foreign terrorist organization,” a release from ICE stated. “The United States will not allow individuals to enjoy the benefits of legal status in our country while they are facilitating the actions of violent organizations or supporting criminal terrorist organizations abroad.”
The federal agency also stated that Boulos failed to disclose his involvement in the formation of a political party in Haiti known as the Mouvement pour la Transformation et la Valorisation d’Haiti (MTVAyiti), and that he was referred by the Haitian government’s Unit for the Fight Against Corruption for allegedly misusing loans.
Those omissions, according to ICE, can constitute immigration fraud and justify his deportation.
“These new actions demonstrate the Trump administration’s firm commitment to protecting the American people, advancing our national security interests, and promoting regional security and stability,” said ICE.
Boulos is being imprisoned at the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations detention facility in Miami.
The matter was investigated by the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and the US Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate.
“MTVAyiti is a political movement inspired by the Desalinian ideals of National Unity, Social Justice, National Sovereignty and the rebuilding of the Economy. The movement has its roots in the values of Pride, Greatness, Efficiency and Rationality of King Christophe,” according to the website of the party founded by Boulos.
Jean-Jacques Dessalines, mentioned in the party’s goals, was a Haitian revolutionary and the founding father of the country after it gained independence in 1804.
Earlier this week, ICE arrested a 52-year-old Mexican illegal immigrant in Chicago who is accused of decapitating a missing Illinois woman and storing her body in a bleach-filled storage container.
Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez, a resident of Waukegan, Illinois, was taken into custody in April and charged with concealing a corpse, abuse of a corpse, and obstruction of justice, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Despite the severity of the charges, Lake County Judge Randie Bruno immediately ordered Mendoza-Gonzalez’s release from custody following his initial court appearance.
He was re-arrested Saturday afternoon at a market in Chicago by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and is currently being held in ICE custody, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In April, police in Waukegan, Illinois, discovered the body of 37-year-old Megan Bos—who had been reported missing on March 9—in a container located in the yard of Jose Luis Mendoza-Gonzalez.
According to her family, Bos disappeared in February.
Authorities accuse Mendoza-Gonzalez of keeping Megan Bos’s body on his property for nearly two months and abusing it.
DHS officials told FOX News that Bos had been decapitated and her body was discovered in a storage container filled with bleach.