A bloody machete fight in a Boston suburb led to the arrest of three illegal immigrants, who are now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, the agency said this week.
Officers from the Waltham Police Dept. responded on July 14 to a report of a fight involving a machete. The Department said officers discovered a victim with a deep head laceration from the weapon, who was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
It said one person was hit with the weapon and two others were assaulted trying to stop the attack. Two men were arrested that evening and another was arrested two days later.
Police said the assault was a result of a neighbor dispute over a "motor vehicle incident." The incident was first reported by the Boston Herald.
Police arrested Osman Aguilar-Borrayo for armed assault with intent to murder, assault and battery on a pregnant woman, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and mayhem.
ICE told Fox News Digital that he had initially entered the U.S. in 2014, but was removed under expedited removal that year. He re-entered illegally in July 2021 and was released into the U.S. under prosecutorial discretion by Border Patrol.
Police also arrested Bryan Aguilar-Borrayo for mayhem. He entered illegally in Texas in 2019, was arrested by Border Patrol, and was released into the U.S. with a Notice to Appear in court.
Kevin Aguilar-Borrayo was also arrested for Mayhem on July 16. He also entered the U.S. in July 2019, and was processed with a Notice to Appear and released on an order of recognizance, ICE said.
The agency said that all three men, from Guatemala, are now in ICE custody awaiting immigration hearings.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers make enforcement decisions on a case-by-case basis in a professional and responsible manner, informed by their experience as law enforcement officials and in a way that best protects against the greatest threats to the homeland," a spokesperson said.
The arrests come as the U.S. remains in a border crisis now in its third year. Republicans have criticized the administration for reducing ICE enforcement priorities while expanding "catch-and-release." The administration won a major case challenging the ICE priorities before the Supreme Court last month.
The administration has pointed to recent border numbers, which showed a sharp drop in June in numbers to a level not seen since February 2021. However, those numbers, 144,000 migrant encounters, remain high compared to pre-2021 numbers.