A 31-year-old Brazilian man who’d been living on Martha’s Vineyard undocumented for an unknown length of time was taken into custody by immigration agents Thursday due to murder charges in his home country.
Officials say Hiago Ornela-Da Silva first entered the U.S. as a minor in 2007, and had been ordered removed by a federal immigration judge after being apprehended by Border Patrol.
He subsequently self-removed from the U.S. two years later, before re-entering the country at an unknown date and location, ICE said in a statement Thursday.
According to Brazilian law enforcement, Ornela-Da Silva has been wanted as of February 2022 for his alleged connection to a 2021 double homicide.
With assistance from the Edgartown Police Department, members of Boston’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) apprehended Ornela-Da Silva on Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road during a traffic stop Thursday morning, officials say.
While it is not known at this time where he was employed or for how long, police say Ornela-Da Silva had been under surveillance for some time while residing on the Boulevard in Edgartown.
Edgartown Police are not involved in simple matters of immigration, but local detectives assisted ICE Thursday due to the serious charge of homicide.
According to federal immigration officials, Ornela-Da Silva will remain in custody pending his removal from the U.S.
“The arrest of this Brazilian noncitizen demonstrates our commitment to prioritizing enforcement and removal efforts against unlawfully present noncitizens who are wanted for crimes in their home countries,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd Lyons in Thursday’s press release.
“The cooperation with CBP Air and Marine Operations, as well as the Edgartown Police Department, was instrumental in successfully apprehending this individual. We are appreciative of the Edgartown Police Department’s ongoing support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
Bad hombre
Thank god he wasn’t sent here by Desantis.
Ok– this convinces me that every immigrant
in the U.S ,regardless of nationality is a murderer.
But, the article doesn’t mention who he murdered.
Perhaps the people he murdered were a homesexual
trans couple. Or maybe they were shoplifting,
Or even worse, protesting the brutal murder of
a black man by a rogue gang of racist police.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/30/donald-trump-california-speech-robbers-shot
Then it would be ok , Right ?
I know some people here agree with the fuhrer
about this one.
I won’t mention any names of course, but I know
there is a little quick flash in a lot of synapses when
people read this — even in THEIR “brains”.
Come on guys– tell us you agree that shoplifting should
be a capital crime and summarily carried out by true
“patriots”.
I think you dooooo–
Keller you are being silly. When millions come in and are not vetted some of them are gonna be bad people. Everyone but you knows this.
Actually– I remember when an orange
blob came down a golden escalator and
announced that he was running for the
presidency.
He then gave a speech in which he said
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not
sending their best. […] They’re sending
people that have lots of problems, and they’re
bringing those problems with us. They’re
bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime.
They’re rapists. And some, I assume,
are good people”
Him so stupit he don’t even know to
use pronouns properly — “with US” ?
He later described immigrants as “animals”
One of his cronies said they are making
America “dirtier”. And on and on…
He even suggested shooting them in the legs.
Since he was elected to the presidency in 2016
running on that kind of rhetoric, and is the
current front runner of the repulsivican party.
I’m not sure your statement about my sarcastic
comment and “being the only one” is accurate.
I actually think that nearly every trump
supporter believes that the majority
of people coming to the border are “Bad hombres'”.
I think we could stop the chaos at the border
if we actually gave out 5 million visas a year
for South and Central Americans
and didn’t charge to apply for those visas.
That would give people a chance at the dream
have them properly vetted, keep our population
growing and end our worker shortages.
Don, have sought treatment for TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) yet? I would wager to say that no matter what the topic, somewhere along the line you bring Donald Trump into your rants.
John- So we are talking about how to handle
immigration and I bring up that trump wanted to
shoot them, and I have TDS ? I don’t see you
criticizing Woody for having BDS when he rants
about “Brandon”.
I do like your comment about interpreting
the Constitution as it should apply in
“contemporary times”.
Let’s apply that one to the second amendment.
Dan , I strive to be a compassionate, moderate, if such a thing is possible in today’s landscape. I’m curious what you think a sensible path forward is, between a zero policy, open borders mentality, and the “build the wall, round them up” outlook. I think both are extreme and there must be a Sensible Place in the middle. What do you think it is? I’m not asking this to be confr or jab a finger at you, I’m genuinely curious. I generally find your posts thoughtful and well reasoned. This one has me scratching my head.
Sorry about the typos- darned phone input…
Hi Julian, my moderate plan would begin as follows: First a moratorium, a temporary wall, so to speak. We don’t even have an accurate idea how many migrants are even in the country. Such a moratorium is necessary for another reason, and that’s assimilation. The nation actually did that after the large wave of immigration in the beginning of the 1900s for that very purpose. When one is pushing #1 for English and #2 for Spanish there is no assimilation happening. Next, any immigrant, no matter of country of origin, must be sponsored by an American citizen who will assume financial responsibility for that immigrant. That’s nothing new either. Immigrants who are already here and do not have such sponsorship will be deported. The concept of “anchor babies” must be done away with. After a reasonable amount of time – let’s say five years – immigration can resume on the basis of what can this immigrant do for the United States. What skills can this immigrant bring to the country to make it a better place. Skin color has no place in the calculus.
john– That’s your “moderate” plan ?
what’s the radical plan ?
Set up pill boxes and mow them down with
machine guns ?
I love the anchor baby psychosis.
How is it that someone who spews about how
we need to follow the constitution can simply
ignore this clause in the 14 th amendment ?
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt14-S1-1-2/ALDE_00000812/
Ok — let me reciprocate and demand that anyone
born in the former Soviet Union who managed to
be granted citizenship by an agency they don’t
even trust should be immediately deported.
They probably lied somewhere along the line
anyway, so kick them out, or lock them up.
Don, for starters (let’s for the moment ignore the interpretation of the Constitution as it should apply to anchor babies in contemporary times). There is another method and that’s to amend the Constitution and amending it as such to make it clear that “anchor babies” would be automatically eligible for citizenship. It’s cumbersome, but doable. I am not sure about what you are driving at with your reference to the former Soviet Union. This may sound brutal, but if one considers the hundreds of thousands of deaths we’ve suffered because of a porous border, perhaps the sacrifice of a handful of border jumpers caught mid-river in the act is a good trade. But that would not even be necessary. All we would have to do is NOT reward them with fortunes in benefits for their crime.
John, your position is coherent, consistent, and reasoned. I may not agree with it 100%, but I see lucid thought. The only area where I might offer a counter position is that the paperwork and bureaucracy that one must go through to do the right thing is so onerous, and Kafkaesque that it encourages stepping around it. If it could be whittled down to a lean, efficient, sensible application process, and encourage people to do the right thing, whether that be citizenship, temporary work visas, or asylum, that would be more sensible. However, holding your breath for the federal government to be efficient… Well, we know how that goes. I do believe that compassion can coexist with sensibility. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, good to hear from you!
Hi Julian, I agree wholeheartedly. But the points where we might disagree (not sure) are in the details. No one has a right to come to the USA to live or work or visit, for that matter, regardless of how much paperwork is completed. The first and only question that should be asked is one I referenced in my first post to you. And that’s on the basis of what can this potential immigrant can do for the United States. What skills can this immigrant bring to the country to make it a better place. Simply wanting a better life or not being a criminal is not good enough. Compassion has a place. I think we can agree it’s been misplaced. Do you ever hear from Perry?
No assimilation happening and folks are getting nervous. People come in with frozen values and keep doing what they were doing in home country and not learning the language or customs. Some like Hungary say multiculturalism is not for them and they dont want but some on this site would immediately call that racist or white supremacy. Ironic that the ones who label others as white supremacist are usually white, elite, liberal and wealthy. They are the supremacists.
John.
I occasionally have a a group of
Bazillion women clean my house .
I am often served by migrants
from various countries when I go out
for dinner. I see Jamaicans and Brazilians
mowing lawns, working on construction
projects. There are Brazilian owned business,
accountants, clergy, lawyers, bankers teachers
social service workers etc. on
this island, and throughout our country.
Did they have those skills when they arrived
here ? Maybe not. What do you do for a
living ? Did you have that “skill” when you were
14 ? Many people arriving at the border are
minors with no career, after all.
Julian–
Thanks for asking the question.
I hope my comment to andy above
can shed some light on my thinking.
A lot of the xenophobes here say people
should take the legal route to get here.
I spent years helping 2 friends from Jamaica
to get here.
The first obstacle was the $130 fee for applying
for a visa — currently $205. That alone is a serious
obstacle for your average worker.–
They make about $3 an hour.
Mexicans make about $300 a month.
Venezuelans make nothing.
https://latinoamerica21.com/en/the-reality-of-wages-in-venezuela/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20OVF%20(Venezuelan,of%20a%20company%20averages%20%24216.
if U.S immigration says no, you are out about
3 weeks pay. No Guarantees and no refunds.
The U.S officially only allows 675,000 permanent
resident visas worldwide.
My solution is to take a close look at the economic
conditions of various countries and allow more legal
immigration from failing countries and cut back
on the number of visas we allow from wealthy mostly
caucasian countries.
The U.S population growth is well below 1 %.
Given the demographics of an aging population
we could easily offer free visa applications to
up to 5 million people at the southern border.
Let them be properly vetted and given immediate
permission to work for a living.
Conservatives complain about them getting handouts
while not allowing them to work and pay taxes.
I don’t get that.
On a personal note to you, Dern (junior)
was one of the guys I helped get here.
Don- Thank you- everything you say makes sense and I agree with a lot of it. Thank you for putting skin in the game and helping people- there’s a world of difference between pontificating political positions and actually being kind to real human beings. I appreciate that you have the courage to speak your mind in these comments and back them up with facts. It’s a good thing.
Yesterday Sleepy Joe and Mayorkas decided to keep building the wall and to cancel 30 regulations. How can this be?
Yes, Don. It’s difficult to follow the legal procedures to come here. As it should. It’s much easier to run border and then claim asylum, and start picking up the bennies. You are making my points.
Don, please, it was politically motivated self- defense and asylum should immediately be granted.
Note to readers- I personally like John and Don and appreciate both of them for sharing their thoughts in this forum- call me a naive optimist, but I believe we can discuss issues where we have different points of view without it becoming a personal dispute. I think most of us can agree that there is no coherent national immigration strategy that is fair and coherent, and the lack thereof leads to the current mess. The current system seems to punish compliance. What a fair, just, and compassionate policy would look like is open to vigorous debate- until then, we’ll have chaos that allows demagogues on both sides to sow confusion. Don- thanks for helping Dern get here; he’s a great guy and an asset to our community. John- I missed Perry this summer when he was on the island.
Congratulations on good Police Work, arrest no injuries to anyone, well done.
On a macro level I think everyone knows what the problem is. However, MV is in the unique position, simply based on size, to drill down to the micro level to mitigate this happening again. I would be encouraged to see our representatives work together to put a timeline together as to how and when this person arrived on island and how he was able to live while here. What additional laws may have been broken by this person and who aided him, if anyone. We live in a society that makes it easy to check an applicants status as to employability and eligibility. Don’t be naive to think this is a one off. To be clear knowingly helping a fugitive is a crime in and of itself.
Carl, what is the problem? In your own words
Carl, what is the problem? In your own words
See below from the FBI National Incident-Based Reporting System National Incident-Based Reporting System for the year 2020. Yes, immigrants commit crimes and crime should never be excused, but Americans commit the vast majority of crimes. Let’s not be naive about that either—especially when it comes to domestic terrorism. If we want to address a cohort potentially lethal to democracy itself, domestic terrorists demand a major focus.
“Known Offenders
Law enforcement reported information about 7,173,072 known offenders, meaning some aspect of the suspect—such as age, gender, or race—was known.
Of these offenders, 38.2% were between 21 and 35 years of age.
By gender, most offenders (62.1%) were male; 24.2% were female; and the gender for 13.7% of known offenders was unknown.
By race, more than half (50.8%) of known offenders were white; 29.6% were Black or African American; and 2.2% were of other races. The race was unknown for 17.4% of reported known offenders.
Arrestees
Law enforcement agencies submitted data to the UCR Program through incident reports and arrest reports for 3,621,299 arrestees.
Of these arrestees, 31.9% were 26 to 35 years of age.
By gender, 72.6% were male; and 27.4% were female.
By race, most arrestees (67.7%) were white; 27.1% were Black or African American; and 2.9% were of other races. The race was unknown for 2.2% of arrestees.”
A lucid use of facts to counteract knee-jerk jumps to conclusions- thank you.
Now for the important statistic. Can you tell us the percentage of violent felonies and those committed with firearms by your chosen criteria of race and gender.
The major crime is not “Building the Wall”!
woody–
somebody tried that build a wall strategy.
How’s that working out ?
Don, you might want to feel honored as you convinced me to completely stop commenting to people hiding behind brick walls with their heads in the sand.
You ask, How’s that working out????
You, Brandon, his VP and the rest of your side kicks believe in “Victory Through Surrender”.
The `U.S.M.C.` taught me quite differently!!
No more *Pi$$ing Contests* for me.
Woody–you have declared your
“surrender” on this site before.
How about answering my question
concerning the effectiveness of the
“impenetrable” wall, rather than
whataboutism and a ridiculous comment
about “my side surrendering, as you
surrender here rather than have a rational
and productive discussion ?
In case you have been hiding behind a brick
wall with your head in the sand:
https://thehill.com/latino/596624-trump-border-wall-breached-thousands-of-times-by-smugglers-report/
In case you don’t want to be “bothered”
reading the facts,
That wall can be cut with a $120 battery operated
saws– all. It gets cut 11 times every
day and your tax dollars pay to fix it.
And hundreds of people climb over it every
day.
Breaking News: Mayorkis/Biden admit border crisis. The invasion of illegals has finally become apparent to them and now, NOW, they want to complete the wall. This was all preventable except for the insane politics of the Left and this disastrous administration. (This must kill you to learn this this morning…)
You’ll probably find out next November.
And what makes you think they won’t start using boats? We have 2500 miles of easy shoreline to patrol.
The wall has been built by the greatest builder the world has ever known.
Mexico paid for it.
Have you heard the news, the administration is going to restart building the wall? Too little too late in my opinion. Mayorkis and Biden must go.
FREE KAREN READ
On point.
I don’t get the responses here. A criminal suspect was apprehended who was also an undocumented Brazilian. First, I always enjoyed the company of the Brazilians that I knew. Including a fellow named Jolson back in 1988 that was before the wave arrived, and almost no one remembers him. There’s nothing political about crime. There’s all types of criminal behaviors and all cultures contain criminal elements. Unless someone knowingly helped him evade discovery – a crime, or used the knowledge of the crime to extort profit – another crime, there is no more story to add.
For John Budris, respectfully: “…what can this potential immigrant can do for the United States. What skills can this immigrant bring to the country to make it a better place. Simply wanting a better life or not being a criminal is not good enough.” I would guess that all of the respondents here, including you, had forebears who came to this country from somewhere else. How many of them, upon entry, could have fulfilled this mandate regarding what they could do for this country? People have always come here seeking the opportunity to find in themselves what they have to offer. To ask someone to prove this before entering is like asking a college applicant to prove that they will have a successful career post graduation before they even start classes. “Wanting a better life” was very likely good enough for most of our forebears when they first came here, as “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. Or do we decide that that ideal no longer applies, once we’re established here ourselves? Either it means something or it doesn’t. If not, return the statue to France, along with its message.
Hi Bruce,
The difference between when my grandparents left Russia’s Czarist empire and today’s migrants is that first, my grandparents asked for permission, and the permission was granted. But what can’t be ignored, is my grandparents came for one thing and one thing only – freedom. They did not come for free stuff, and free stuff was not available. And knowing them as I did, they would neither have asked for nor accepted free stuff. An honest question that must be asked of those who continue either vocal or tacit support of open borders is this one:
Do you think these tens of millions of migrants would flood into the country if the well-spring of taxpayer support and benefits were not there? Some would, of course, but not most.
Moreover, we must address the matter of scale. During the Biden administration alone – by their own numbers – some 8.4 million migrants have come into the country through the porous borders. That’s in about two years time alone, and does not factor in the previous 30 years. In those two years (the most current government figures) this number is greater than the populations of Wyoming, Vermont, Washington, D.C, North and South Dakota, Alaska, Delaware, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Montana COMBINED. In just two years. Every month now, an estimated 250,000 more migrants come across. No country can sustain this without losing its identity and bankrupting its treasury. The country is in perilous debt, and we are teetering on default.
And Bruce, your references to Emma Lazarus’ poem on the Statue of Liberty though touching, is taken out of historical context. When Governor DeSantis (arguably a banal publicity stunt) sent some 50 migrants to the island, how many Vineyarders do you know volunteered to assume complete and indefinite financial responsibility for any of them? To stay in their homes without rent indefinitely? To pay for their medical needs, children’s education, clothes, food – all of the necessities of living. I would wager few did and none followed through with such generosity.
Surely 50 families with property on Martha’s Vineyard have the resources to have “adopted” these “tired and poor.” From all of the media reports I read and followed it seemed the effort was aimed instead at getting them off the island as quickly as possible, and in so many words, making them somebody else’s problem.
What I don’t understand if how he was under surveillance for quite some time but they don’t know where he was working? That’s a head scratcher. Maybe he worked for a public servant?? Some other known “Islander”?
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