A recent nationwide round-up of 275 noncitizens convicted of sex offenses netted at least two in New England.

“ICE is committed to protecting America through the arrest and removal of those who undermine public safety and disregard our laws,” said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner at the conclusion of the February operation.

“Thanks to the around-the-clock efforts of our (Enforcement and Removal Operations) officers, our communities are safe from 275 individuals who have demonstrated their willingness to commit sex crimes against innocent people, including children,” he continued.

This week, ERO Boston confirmed the arrest within their jurisdiction of two Jamaican nationals convicted of sex crimes against children.

The first was a 30-year-old convicted of sexual assault and battery on a Massachusetts resident, who the ERO arrested on Feb. 12 in Barnstable.

According to ICE, the man was arrested in Barnstable in August 2022 and charged with assault to rape a child and two counts each of indecent assault and battery on person over 14 years of age and distributing obscene material to a minor. He pleaded guilty to the two counts of indecent assault and battery at Barnstable District Court in November 2023, for which he was sentenced to three years of supervised probation.

ICE says that the man entered the U.S. in May 2017 in Charlotte, N.C., on a a nonimmigrant visa that permitted him to remain in the United States until April 11, 2018 — but that he failed to leave by the expiration date.

The second was another Jamaican, this time a 61-year-old man that ERO agents arrested in Hartford, Conn., on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14. According to the agency, he was convicted in Hartford Judicial District Court of sexual assault of a minor child in May 2018, for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

ICE says the agency lodged an immigration detainer against him but the Connecticut Department of Corrections released him after only seven years of his sentence without notifying ICE.

The man entered the U.S. legally as a nonimmigrant in 1987 and has stayed illegally ever since the expiration of his visa, according to ICE.

“This unlawfully present Jamaican national represented a threat to the children of our New England communities,” said Todd Lyons, the field office director for ERO Boston. “Any unlawfully present sex offender constitutes a significant threat to public safety. ERO Boston will continue to prioritize the safety of our residents by removing such predators from our New England neighborhoods.”

In addition to these arrests, ICE last month deported from Massachusetts two Brazilian nationals charged with violent crimes.

One is Antonio Dos Santos, 52, who is wanted in his home country for the aggravated homicide of a child under the age of 14. ICE says that they arrested him on immigration violations near his residence in Plymouth on Oct. 18. ICE removed him from the country on Feb. 23.

The other is Raul Thalison De Oliveira-Silva, 31, who was also removed on Feb. 23. ICE says that he is wanted in his home country on a charge of extortion and had been arrested and charged in Brockton with strangulation and assault and battery.

“Convicted foreign fugitives do not have a right to use our immigration system to flee from justice in their own country,” Field Office Director Lyons said in a statement. “Those who hope to evade justice will not find sanctuary in our New England neighborhoods. We will seek out, apprehend and remove them so that they can no longer pose a threat to members of our community.”

ICE on Feb. 23 deported two Brazilian nationals charged with violent crimes. Thalison De Oliveira-Silva, 31, at left, and Antonio Dos Santos, 52, at right. (Courtesy / ICE)