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Massachusetts lawmakers could soon make our streets far more dangerous.

With the indefinite extension of the legislative session due to the COVID-19 shutdown, the state Legislature could pass the grossly misnamed Safe Communities bill at any time. That bill would all but end cooperation between police in the commonwealth and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to locate and remove illegal immigrants already in detention. Without that cooperation, Massachusetts would become far less safe for law-abiding residents.

The bill would specifically ban police from turning criminals already in custody over to federal immigration officials. Instead, local law enforcement would have to release these alleged rapists, armed robbers and other violent criminals back onto the streets.

Lawmakers negligence will have deadly consequences for Massachusetts residents.

Plenty of evidence suggests sanctuary state status would boost victimization of Massachusetts residents citizens, legal immigrants and illegal immigrants. The U.S. General Accounting Office found that illegal immigrants committed a cumulative total of 5.5 million offenses. Each was arrested an average of seven times.

Most illegal immigrants arent violent, of course but a significant minority are. Boston Police recently concluded that gangs commanded from the Dominican Republic control most of the heroin trafficking in Massachusetts and surrounding states. In a single 2016 operation, federal agents arrested 56 gang members in Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Revere and Somerville on charges including five murders and 14 attempted murders. Other charges included drug trafficking, racketeering, firearm violations, human trafficking and identity fraud.

Massachusetts sadly isnt an anomaly. Noncitizens were responsible for 21% of federal crimes between 2011 and 2016, despite making up just over 8% of the adult population. Between fiscal years 2011 and 2018, 27,300 illegal immigrants served sentences for homicide in state prisons, according to a recent General Accountability Office report. Over the same period, illegal immigrants committed 5.5 million offenses including 667,000 drug offenses, 42,000 robberies, 91,000 sex crimes, 81,000 auto thefts, 95,000 weapons offenses and 213,000 assaults.

Tragically, many of those crimes could have been prevented. Each illegal immigrant was arrested seven times, on average. Had they been deported after their first arrest, many victims might still be alive today.

Those victims, by the way, are disproportionately immigrants themselves. According to the Boston U.S. Attorneys Office, gangs like MS-13 frequently use intimidation to recruit new members typically 14 to 15 years old in local high schools with sizeable populations of immigrants from Central America.

Put simply, the best way to protect both immigrants and native-born citizens is to remove illegal immigrants from this country.

Deporting violent criminals is hardly a right-wing position. Under the Obama and Trump administrations, most deportations involve convicted criminals.

Illegal immigrant crimes are particularly unconscionable because many, if not most, could be prevented by speedy deportations. Illegal immigrants, especially those who commit violent crimes, have no right to remain here. Indeed, we have a strong moral imperative to remove them before they do more harm.

John Thompson is co-chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform.

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Safe Communities Act is anything but safe for Massachusetts - Boston Herald