Bryan Rafael Gomez, 27, was removed from the United States on October 20, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Boston office announced on Thursday. Gomez, a national of the Dominican Republic who had been living in Massachusetts, is the subject of a criminal arrest warrant issued in the Dominican Republic on January 24, 2023, in connection with a March 2021 shooting in which, investigators allege, Gomez and another man shot two people after an argument and one victim died. Those are allegations by Dominican authorities; Gomez has not been convicted in that case in the reporting reviewed.
Source: ICE Boston announcement, reported by X News Up
According to the Department of Homeland Security's April statement and ICE's account, Gomez entered the United States illegally in 2022, was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol agents near Lukeville, Arizona, and was released. On April 4, 2026, Worcester police arrested him on an assault and battery charge; he was released after posting $500 bail (yaani 500 dollar) and ICE then arrested him, DHS said.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
On April 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose in Rhode Island ordered Gomez released pending a bond hearing. Reporting on the court proceedings said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Bolan had not informed the court about the outstanding Dominican homicide warrant before that order, following a DHS direction not to disclose it. DHS publicly criticised the release, and the judge later ordered Gomez back into detention and sought a formal probe into the non-disclosure, the Boston Herald reported.
After the re-detention order, Gomez failed to report to ICE as instructed in early May and remained out of custody for several months, until he was taken back into custody in Massachusetts in July 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office account reported this week. An immigration judge had issued a final order of removal, and ICE Boston said it would take custody if state authorities released him.
The dispute was not only about one removal. Federal judges in Rhode Island ordered a probe into how government lawyers handled the case after the homicide warrant was withheld from the court, raising questions about candour in immigration proceedings.
What is solid
- ICE Boston announced Gomez was removed on Oct. 20, 2026.
- Dominican authorities issued a warrant for Gomez on Jan. 24, 2023, over an alleged March 2021 fatal shooting.
- Judge DuBose ordered his release on April 28, 2026, before the court was told of the warrant, and later ordered him re-detained.
What is only claimed
- The 2021 shooting is an allegation by Dominican investigators; no conviction is reported in the sources reviewed.
- DHS and the judge dispute how and why the warrant was not disclosed to the court before the release order.