After Providence police officers were filmed at the scene of an ICE arrest this weekend, the city’s police chief held a press conference on Monday to explain his department’s role in the incident.
Col. Oscar Perez, the city’s police chief, said Providence police officers do not assist federal agents with immigration enforcement or share information with ICE.
Perez said his officers were on scene during an ICE arrest on Sunday because they were responding to a report of a multi-vehicle car accident near 55 Alverson Avenue.
He said federal agents had reported the crash after chasing a man through the city. The man, whose full name was not shared by law enforcement officials, allegedly ran out of his car into a house after the collision.
Perez said his officers arrived to document the accident, but stayed on scene to escort a woman and her kids out of the house ICE was preparing to raid.
“The last thing I wanted was a search warrant being done in a house where doors are being kicked in,” Perez said.
“She said she didn’t trust the ICE agents and that she was more comfortable with us,” he said.
The man ICE targeted wound up turning himself in, Perez said, which led to a moment where Providence police officers were filmed in close proximity to ICE agents as they made the arrest.
As videos of the encounter circulated online, critics like State Rep. David Morales said Providence police officers were “assisting ICE as they terrorize our communities.”
Chief Perez said he called Monday’s press conference to clarify why his officers were there.
“Our role in this situation was strictly limited to ensuring the well-being of everyone present,” Perez said. “We do not enforce federal immigration law, nor do we collaborate with ICE in its operations.”
Perez said his department gets no advance notice of who ICE is targeting or when they plan to make arrests.
At Monday’s press conference, he said he does not even have enough information to estimate how many immigrants have been arrested in Providence during President Trump’s second term.
Morales, the state legislator who criticized the Providence police department’s role in the encounter, was the only government official who shared any identifying information about the man ICE arrested.
Morales said his name was Ivan, and that he was “one of our neighbors.”
