Massachusetts State Senator Julian Cyr says he's saddened and alarmed by the large-scale immigration enforcement actions carried out by ICE on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
Forty people were taken into federal custody Tuesday and removed from the islands aboard Coast Guard vessels.
The Senator says the operation appears to have gone far beyond a targeted effort with work vans being profiled and pulled over and individuals being questioned without clear cause.
The Senator says that kind of sweeping action has left families in fear, disrupted businesses and sent a chilling message to residents who have lived, worked and contributed to island life for years. He says it's shameful to see immigrant islanders - who fill critical roles that sustain the local economies - be targeted.
On Wednesday, Governor Maura Healey also commented on the ICE actions, raising questions about due process and a lack of information about those taken into custody.
“Operations like this highlight the strong alliances that ICE shares with our fellow law enforcement partners,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. “ICE officers and FBI, DEA and ATF agents worked together to arrest a significant number of illegal alien offenders which included at least one child predator. Our partners in the U.S. Coast Guard facilitated a safe and efficient transport of the alien offenders off Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, ensuring the safety of the residents of those communities. ICE and our federal partners made a strong stand for prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing illegal aliens from our New England neighborhoods.”
Officers with ICE Boston and agents with FBI Boston, DEA New England and ATF Boston arrested around 40 alien offenders on the two islands, many of whom had U.S. criminality including a documented member of the notorious MS-13 street gang and at least one child sex offender.
“This operation highlights FBI Boston’s ongoing commitment to supporting our partners at the Department of Homeland Security with identifying and apprehending those who are breaking the law by violating our immigration laws and, in some cases, committing crimes that endanger public safety,” said Kimberly Milka, acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division.
(Photo: Immigration and Customs Enforcement)