New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said at least eight people were arrested on Monday during their ordinary morning routines, and that none of them appeared to have criminal records beyond motor vehicle violations.
In a public statement on Tuesday, Mitchell said the detainees’ family, friends and employers have been left in the dark about the arrests. He said ICE never notified New Bedford’s police department about its operations either, which he said puts officers at risk.
“This is not the way the system should work,” said Mitchell, the city’s longtime mayor, who previously served as a federal criminal prosecutor.
An anonymous spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the agency does not share information about ongoing or future operations.
In response to a request for information about the people arrested in New Bedford on Monday, the spokesperson instead shared a “worst of the worst” list of five arrests agents have recently made around Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey weighed in on ICE’s transparency on Tuesday, as well.
“ICE needs to provide information immediately,” Healey said in a statement. “Who have they arrested and why? Our administration will continue to provide support to the community and families, but ICE needs to answer for their actions.”
Healey’s statement, released later in the day than Mitchell’s, estimated the number of people arrested by ICE on Monday as “at least 12.”
“Many of those arrested have lived here for many years and have families here,” Healey said. “They were on their way to work at a fishing plant, supermarket and other key industries for the region.”
“We’ve heard of one father who was arrested and has several children at home, including a 1-month-old baby,” the statement continued. “We heard about an 8-year-old boy who was waiting for his father to pick him up from school, but he had been arrested. These stories are heartbreaking and their loved ones have no answers.”
Mitchell said Monday’s arrests show that ICE has not improved despite recent leadership changes. In January, Greg Bovino, a Customs and Border Patrol commander-at-large who led several ICE operations that caused civilian deaths, was demoted before he tendered his own resignation.
“Yesterday’s arrests in our city underscore that even under new management, ICE continues to overreach,” Mitchell said. “This is not the way the system should work. It reminds us yet again that America’s immigration law and the agency primarily charged with enforcing it must be overhauled.”
