Revere City Councilors will be discussing two bills on Monday night that explore further action at the local level weeks after the arrest of an undocumented immigrant at a state-run family emergency shelter.
Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, was captured after a search warrant was executed on December 27th at the Quality Inn off Route 1.
Authorities said Sanchez, a native of the Dominican Republic, was caught with a million dollars-worth of fentanyl, an AR-15 and ammunition.
Undocumented immigrant caught with assault rifle, huge drug stash at Revere emergency family shelter
Council President Anthony Cogliandro is now calling on the Revere Police Department to work with hotel management to investigate rooms for suspicious and illegal activity.
A second motion, filed by Councilor At-Large Michelle Kelley, is requesting a meeting with state officials to “discuss the procedures for vetting people who obtain EA Shelter” and steps being taken to prevent future incidents.
“I don’t think it goes far enough. The illegal immigrants, they have to go. We need to get them out of our city,” said Anthony Parziale, who’s running for Revere City Councilor At-Large.
Parziale believes last month’s arrest the Quality Inn should serve as a wake-up call for the North Shore community.
“Revere has an opportunity to show other municipalities, to show the state and the federal government, that we’re not going to put up with this illegal immigration problem any longer,” said Parziale.
Councilor Cogliandro and Kelley are not commenting ahead of Monday night’s city council meeting.
Revere Mayor Patrick Keefe sent the following statement to Boston 25 News:
“Our public safety teams remain vigilant and will always keep the community’s safety and wellbeing top of mind: That is my first priority as Mayor.”
Keefe said that the City has shared actions being taken toward the emergency shelter with city council members.
“Any future safety violations will be met with possible fines or a suspension of licensure,” added Keefe.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said Sanchez had not applied to the state’s emergency assistance program and was staying at the shelter with a family unit who was placed there on October 15th.
The state ordered an inspection of all emergency shelter units, an independent review of security at the state-run facilities, and criminal background checks on all residents in the program.
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