A Laotian national convicted of raping a child was put on a deportation flight out of the country earlier this month, more than two decades after an immigration judge first ordered him removed from the United States. Inthavong Somsy, who ICE Boston says has a conviction for rape of a child, was arrested during targeted operations in Burlington on August 24 and removed from the country on September 8.
A Removal Order Two Decades in the Making
According to New Bedford Guide, an immigration judge issued a final order of removal against Somsy on July 7, 2005. Despite that order, Somsy remained in the U.S. for 21 years before U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers finally took him into custody. ICE Boston has described the case as an example of the agency removing people it classifies as dangerous criminal noncitizens. The outlet reported that independent confirmation of Somsy's court records and immigration history was not immediately available.
In July 2018, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of State imposed Section 243(d) visa sanctions on Laos, according to a letter cited by the Congressional Research Service. The sanctions were lifted in February 2022.
Why Somsy Wasn't Detained for Two Decades
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the 2001 case Zadvydas v. Davis that immigration authorities cannot hold noncitizens with final removal orders in indefinite detention beyond a presumptively reasonable six-month window if repatriation isn't reasonably foreseeable. The ruling limits how long the government can hold someone awaiting deportation when removal is not reasonably foreseeable.
Somsy was arrested during targeted operations in Burlington.
Somsy's removal was carried out through ICE Air Operations, which operates removal flights for people with final removal orders.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Boston
Somsy's case is not an isolated one for ICE's Boston field office this year. In February, ICE ERO Boston arrested Khambor Phouthongseng, another Laotian national convicted in a 1990 Massachusetts murder who had remained in the country through a decades-long legal and immigration history, as Hoodline reported at the time.
The arrests come amid political scrutiny of ICE's Burlington operations. Congressional questions about conditions at the facility have added to that scrutiny. Sen. Edward J. Markey's office has also communicated about Burlington ICE operations. That tension over how and where ICE conducts its enforcement work in Massachusetts remains unresolved even as cases like Somsy's continue to move forward.
