DARTMOUTH, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson responded to the decision to move ICE detainees out of the Dartmouth facility.
In a press conference Friday, Hodgson called the termination of the contract a "political hit job."
“This decision puts the people of Bristol County, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the United States of America at greater risk of being victimized by criminal illegal aliens. While Sec. Mayorkas and the Biden administration are turning their backs on the people of our great country, I will not,” Hodgson claimed.
"We're not interested in playing politics. The sheriffs of this nation got elected by the people, like he [President Biden] did, and took the same oath he did, as well as the president of the United States," Hodgson said. "They ought to be ashamed of themselves for standing in front of cameras and lying to people that this is good for them. It's not, and you won't find a sheriff in this country that will tell you that."
Meanwhile, Attorney General Maura Healey applauded the Biden administration for taking action, she believed the Bristol County Sheriff's Office violated these immigration detainee's civil rights
Healey said C. Carlos Carreiro Immigrant Detention Center in North Dartmouth put detainees at "substantial risk of serious injury or harm" by the sheriff's department.
Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, head of Lawyers for Civil Rights, filed lawsuits against the facility last year due to unsafe and overcrowded conditions.
“Sheriff Hodgson has inflicted grievous harm on vulnerable immigrants in his custody for years,” Espinoza-Madrigal stated. “And we enthusiastically applaud the Biden Administration’s decision to put an immediate end to the abuse.”
Hodgson released a statement Thursday following the news.
WBZ NewsRadio's Tim Dunn (@ConsiderMeDunn) reports:
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(Photo: Tim Dunn/WBZ NewsRadio)