ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston has arrested a Haitian national who was charged with sexually assaulting a Massachusetts resident after he was arrested and released under the Biden-Harris administration at the border in 2022.  

30-year-old Haitian Jefferson Jerome was arrested on September 11 after being charged with indecent assault and battery. Jerome was first arrested by US Border Patrol in 2021 after unlawfully crossing the border near Del Rio, Texas, and was returned to Mexico. In 2022, he attempted to enter the US again at a port of entry in Brownsville, Texas, where US Customs and Border Protection apprehended him and issued him a notice to appear before an immigration judge.

Earlier this month, Jerome was arraigned in Dorchester District Court on charges of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14 years old. He was released under pretrial conditions, including wearing a GPS monitoring device. ERO Boston officers arrested him immediately after his release from state custody, and he is now in federal custody.

“Jefferson Jerome stands accused of a horrific crime against a resident of our Massachusetts community,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons in a statement. “We will not tolerate the victimization of our neighbors. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending and removing egregious noncitizen offenders from New England.”

Jerome's arrest is part of a broader issue involving illegal immigrants committing sex crimes in the US. Recently, ICE reported a record number of noncitizen sex offender arrests in Maryland, announcing that 153 individuals were apprehended in Baltimore during the 2024 fiscal year.