WORCESTER — Another dangerous illegal criminal who should’ve been gone for good is back in Massachusetts — a state where career crooks from across the globe know the welcome mat is always out.

Federal prosecutors say 48-year-old Jose Luis Urena-Vasquez, a Dominican national with a rap sheet spanning drugs, guns, and violent street beefs, was deported in 2009… and again in February 2024. But despite two trips back to the Dominican Republic courtesy of U.S. taxpayers, they say he waltzed right back into sanctuary-state Massachusetts, this time setting up shop in Worcester.

Court records paint the picture:

• 2008 — Nabbed in Essex County for drug distribution.
• 2009 — Deported after serving his time.
• Sometime after — Sneaks back in.
• 2018 — Charged in Lawrence with armed assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and illegal gun possession.
• 2018 — Flees the state, caught in Florida, dragged back to Massachusetts.
• 2019 — Pleads guilty to illegal reentry, serves federal time on top of state charges.
• 2024 — Deported again.

And now — just over a year later — ICE agents say he’s back.

The feds are throwing the book at him again: one count of unlawful reentry of a deported alien whose removal followed an aggravated felony. That can mean up to 20 years in federal prison — followed, once again, by deportation.

ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations deserves credit for catching him — but in a state like Massachusetts, where Governor Maura Healey’s sanctuary policies shield criminal aliens from local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, you have to wonder: how long until he’s back again?

Because here’s the ugly truth — the same sanctuary laws that make Massachusetts a “beacon” to progressive politicians make it a safe harbor for illegal criminals with nothing to lose. And the record shows Urena-Vasquez has no problem coming back for more.