Milford resident Maureen Maloney thinks concerning the what-ifs every time she sees headlines about unlawful immigration.
Maloney has advocated for a stronger border and commonsense immigration insurance policies within the years after a drunken-driving unlawful immigrant shattered her life on Aug. 20, 2011.
Maloney’s son Matthew Denice died on the age of 23 that day when Nicolas Dutan Guaman struck his bike after the Ecuadorian nationwide rolled by way of a Milford cease check in a pickup truck. Denice was pinned beneath a tire nicely and dragged a quarter-mile to his demise.
Guaman, who admitted to consuming as many as six beers earlier than the crash, was deported in 2023 after being convicted in 2014 and serving a subsequent jail sentence.
Almost 14 years for the reason that tragedy, Maloney says she would “give anything to have my son back.”
Earlier than the crash, Guaman confronted prior costs that included assault and battery on a police officer, however he was given probation as a substitute of being deported, as the fees continued with out a discovering.
“If we had this kind of enforcement of criminal illegal aliens prior to my son’s death, my son would still be alive,” Maloney informed ther Herald. “If Massachusetts didn’t have the sanctuary policies that it has in place, my son would still be alive.”
The city that Maloney has known as dwelling for practically 30 years has discovered itself within the nationwide headlines.
Brokers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Milford Excessive College junior Marcelo Gomes da Silva, a Brazilian native whose visa had lapsed, on his option to volleyball observe final weekend, prompting fierce backlash from the neighborhood.
Gomes da Silva, 18, got here to the U.S. from Brazil at age 7 along with his mother and father on an F-2 visa for kids of scholars.
A federal immigration choose launched Gomes da Silva on $2,000 bond on Thursday to the delight of supporters, Gov. Maura Healey and scores of politicians. His lawyer has stated that he could possibly be eligible for asylum and is at present pursuing a declare, which might make his presence within the U.S. lawful.
Maloney stated she feels “bad for this young man, Marcelo.” She blames Massachusetts’ insurance policies that restrict native and state regulation enforcement from cooperating with ICE and his father, João Paulo Gomes Pereira, a “known public safety threat” who the feds had been concentrating on and say is within the nation illegally.
U.S. Division of Homeland Safety spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin stated Gomes da Silva’s father “has a habit of reckless driving at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour through residential areas.”
“The son is unfortunately collateral damage, just like how my son was collateral damage in Massachusetts policies,” Maloney stated. “The difference, though, is these parents will be able to see their child again, and I will never be able to see my child again. There is a very big distinction there.”
After Maloney misplaced her son, whom she described as “very well-liked,” the Milford neighborhood rallied collectively in assist of her household.
Greater than 200 individuals protested in opposition to unlawful immigration outdoors City Corridor simply weeks after the demise. Ecuadorian officers provided condolences to the Maloney household. Milford additionally signed an settlement with the feds to audit its present staff and their authorized standing.
Maloney additionally highlighted how her son’s demise adopted the deaths of two others in Milford as a consequence of unlawful immigrant drivers.
Resident Richard V. Grossi died on the age of 55 in 2009 after being struck by an unlawful immigrant from Portugal who was charged with motorcar murder. In February 2011, 47-year-old Ashland resident Andrea Agosto additionally died in a deadly crash within the Worcester County city of roughly 30,000 individuals.
“But, you know, memories fade, and life goes on,” Maloney stated. “People just move on.”
Throughout the previous week, Gov. Healey demanded solutions from ICE on Gomes da Silva’s detention, whereas lots of of locals protested the feds on the town, at a highschool volleyball sport, and out of doors the courthouse.
Maloney identified how Milford’s neighborhood has “grown a lot” since her son’s demise. Census knowledge signifies that the city’s Hispanic and Brazilian populations have grown practically twofold since 2009.
“This is tugging at their heartstrings,” the mom stated of Gomes da Silva’s supporters. “I don’t think they’re thinking about illegal immigration overall, how it impacts everybody on a daily basis.”
“It’s the Massachusetts sanctuary city policies that enable the illegal aliens and the criminal aliens to stay here in the state,” she added. “Massachusetts is a magnet.”
Maloney instantly talked about motels and resorts which have housed native homeless households and migrants over the previous couple of years throughout the Bay State. Healey introduced in late Might that each one remaining shelters might be closing this summer time.
The shelters underneath the state’s emergency help system have been full of crime together with little one rape, home violence, brawls, drunkenness, medication and extra, in line with a sequence of incident stories launched earlier this 12 months
Ashland resident Jon Fetherston served as director of an emergency shelter in Marlborough in 2023 and 2024 and has blown the whistle on lodge and motel crime. The conservative podcaster stated he has recognized Maloney for years, calling her a “true American hero.”
Through the years, Maloney has opposed a regulation that permits unlawful immigrants to achieve driver’s licenses, pushed for stronger border safety, whereas talking instantly with President Trump, border czar Tom Homan, ICE Appearing Director Todd Lyons, and hordes of congressmen and senators.
The Trump administration has acknowledged Maloney and her husband, Michael Maloney, as an “Angel family” that has fallen sufferer to unlawful immigrant crime.
“When law and order are not enforced, public safety is compromised,” Fetherston informed the Herald. “That’s why I stand firmly with Maureen Maloney in calling for stronger immigration enforcement.”
In response to an inquiry on how the Healey administration is supporting households victimized by unlawful immigrant crime, a governor’s spokesperson directed the Herald to the state Govt Workplace of Public Security and Safety.
A spokesperson for that company outlined dozens of assist providers for all victims of crime.
Maloney stated she desires “people to be aware that there are thousands of innocent people” victimized by unlawful immigration yearly. She touted ICE’s Operation Patriot, an enforcement effort in Might that resulted within the arrests of 1,461 unlawful aliens, together with 790 charged with or convicted of crimes within the U.S. or overseas, within the Bay State.
“How many lives do you think will be saved from them being removed from the street?” she requested. “How many less children will be sexually abused as a result of ICE’s work?”
