May 20, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Evan Lips, communications director
617-523-5005 ext. 245
WOBURN -- Hours after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ordered the shutdown of a Bristol County facility housing criminal illegal aliens awaiting deportation, Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons responded by pointing out the politicization of what he said should be a nonpartisan issue.
"The decision to shut down the Bristol County Jail's ICE Unit was based on nothing more than politics," Lyons said. "The first responsibility that law enforcement has is to ensure the safety of Americans, and this decision accomplishes the opposite."
The announcement came a day after several former senior DHS and Customs and Immigration Enforcement officials called for Mayorkas's removal and accused him of lying about the security of the southern border
, citing the Biden appointee's record of helping to create "an unmitigated crisis where both immigration enforcement and border security are almost non-existent."
Lyons added that Bristol County was singled out because Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson served as chair of former President Donald J. Trump's Massachusetts reelection campaign.
Several months ago all but one member of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation demanded that the Biden administration end ICE's cooperation with Hodgson.
"The Biden administration is putting politics ahead of public safety," Lyons said. "And Massachusetts Democrats are cheering them on."
The facility at the Bristol County Jail had been operating continuously since 2007.
