After Iranian arrest tied to U.S. military murders, town advances sanctuary policies

After an Iranian national was arrested on Monday in a Boston suburb for his alleged ties to a terrorist attack that killed three U.S. service members, the town's leaders unanimously voted to pass a sanctuary city ordinance.

On Monday, Iranian-born Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, a resident of Natick, Mass., was charged in federal court in Boston "with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws," The Center Square reported.

Sadeghi and others allegedly conspired to evade U.S. export control and sanctions laws by procuring goods, services, and technology from American companies and exporting them to an Iranian-based company that contracts with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization. The company allegedly manufactured the drones used by the IRGC that killed U.S. soldiers stationed in Jordan in January.

Sadeghi faces up to 20 years in prison for his role in a conspiracy that goes back nearly 10 years, according to the complaint.

His arrest occurred after an unprecedented number of Iranian and special interest aliens were apprehended after illegally entering the U.S., The Center Square reported.

It also occurred after Islamic terrorist incidents increased under President Joe Biden and after he extended a national emergency regarding Iran last month.

The U.S. has been in a perpetual state of national emergency related to Iran since Nov. 14, 1979, The Center Square reported.

Forty-eight hours after Sadeghi's arrest, on Wednesday night, Natick's Select Board members unanimously passed a sanctuary city policy, 5-0. It prohibits taxpayer-funded town employees from inquiring about or collecting information about residents' citizenship status, among other provisions.

Natick joined Boston, Somerville, Northampton, Amherst Cambridge, Concord, Lawrence and Newton in adopting so-called sanctuary city policies ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's stated mass deportation policy. The policy is being implemented in response to more than 14 million illegal border crossers being reported under the Biden administration as crime and national security threat escalated, The Center Square reported.

Natick's actions followed the all-Democratic Boston City Council unanimously voting to reaffirm the Boston Trust Act, which prohibits Boston Police Department officers from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with some exceptions. It also comes after Boston's mayor said the city wasn't planning on cooperating with ICE, The Center Square reported.

Massachusetts' sanctuary policies work against law enforcement tasked with protecting residents, Todd Lyons, acting assistant director of field operations for ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations in New England, argues. Elected officials "preaching their sanctuary city status are making it easier for those who commit sex crimes and fentanyl dealers. We need cities and towns to work with us to keep these criminals out of neighborhoods.

"We focus on the worst of the worst and all the political rhetoric is not helping," he told the Boston Herald.

Democratic leaders describing Massachusetts "as a sanctuary to the international community and that they won't cooperate with federal authorities, sends a dangerous signal to bad actors around the world," the chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party, Amy Carnevale, said, "It tells them that Massachusetts is a safe haven where they can evade prosecution from the United States federal government."

Last year, Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll urged residents to house illegal border crossers, saying, "step up if you're willing to have an additional family be part of your family." One year later, the state converted an empty former prison to house them, resulting in local outrage, The Center Square reported.

Carnevale said it was time for Driscoll to "stand with the people of Massachusetts and declare that our state will no longer serve as a sanctuary for criminals whether they're here legally or illegally. For the safety and security of our communities, Massachusetts must send a clear message: there is no sanctuary for international criminals in our Commonwealth."

ICE agents have been arresting violent criminals in Massachusetts, including men convicted of aggravated rape, assault and battery, and fugitives wanted in their home countries for violent sexual crimes. In many cases, sanctuary jurisdictions refused to cooperate with ICE, and instead released violent offenders into the community who then committed additional crimes, The Center Square reported.

New Hampshire's incoming-Gov. Kelly Ayotte has had harsh words for Massachusetts, saying, "Our neighbors to the south seem intent on proving that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. As they struggle with a billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis, they are instead choosing to double down," she told Fox News Digital.

Ayotte, who is replacing outgoing Gov. Chris Sununu, ran on a campaign against the "Mass-i-fication" of New Hampshire.

"Here in New Hampshire, we are going to ban sanctuary policies and give law enforcement the tools to work together to ensure this crisis never comes to our towns," she said.