Three undocumented brothers who shared an apartment in New Bedford went to a Market Basket on Monday, doing their usual grocery pick-up for themselves, and a separate one for their brother, sister-in-law and baby niece.
Maria, their sister-in-law, was at work when she heard the news: all three had been detained in the parking lot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. GBH News isn't using her last name due to her own fears of detention as she continues an asylum case.
They were at the traffic light to turn into the supermarket when they noticed vehicles, according to Maria, who has since spoken to her brothers-in-law. Federal immigration enforcement vehicles surrounded them as soon as they pulled in.
"From what I understand, they were pretty aggressive toward the brother who was driving. They twisted his arm behind his back," she said. The family says there are no criminal records for any of the three men, who are originally from Honduras. One came to the U.S. 14 years ago, and the other two about two years ago. They work in construction and as laborers, she said.
"The one who's most worried is my mother-in-law — their mother. She's an elderly woman, so this has really affected her," she said. Maria said her mother-in-law is very upset three of her four sons are detained.
"They're hardworking and very kind," Maria said, describing how they dote on their baby niece, buying her gifts. "They're the kind of people who wouldn't hurt a fly." The men are detained at Plymouth's ICE detention center.
The brothers were detained in one of the largest ICE actions in recent months in southeastern Massachusetts. In New Bedford alone, at least 40 people have been detained since Monday, according to advocates, and at least three more in Fall River. Dartmouth was affected as well but GBH News was unable to confirm the number of arrests there.
Amelia Ritenour, who is representing two of the brothers, was one of many attorneys struggling to find information about her clients, including how they had been detained and where they were being held. They described the chaos.
"I filed for the two people and the assistant U.S. attorney reached out to me and was like, 'Can you give me more information on your clients so we even know who you're talking about?' I had to say no, I don't have any more information because his family didn't have anything," they said. Ritenour urges immigrants to try to give information to a U.S. citizen or a family member with a secure immigration status in the event they are detained.
"I think I'm always surprised by the cruelty [of the detentions], but at this point I'm also always kind of expecting cruelty," they said.
Alicia Lopez Gonzalez co-directs Mujeres Victoriosas in New Bedford, a local advocacy organization committed to immigrant womens' rights. She personally witnessed at least four of the ICE arrests, describing them through tears on Thursday.
She said she saw a man being detained on the corner of Sawyer Street and Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. The man was giving several ICE officers his information, then tried to leave.
"They subdued him, put him in the van, and took him away," López Gonzáles said. In multiple photos online, a taser appears to be pressed to the man's neck as he lays on the ground with his hands already held behind his back.
"This is done intentionally to traumatize our community, to take people away, and to leave us like this with nothing, without knowing anything about them," said López Gonzáles.
The organization is part of a the mutual support network, and is offering families any type of assistance, from rent to transport to food pick-up assistance, as many immigrants are afraid to leave their homes.
"We are basically in emergency mode, and just pulling cases and filing cases as quickly as we can," said Kerry Doyle, a local immigration attorney and former immigration judge. She's filed or helped file at least three habeas petitions, including for a man detained at New Bedford Cumberland Farms. Doyle said at least five Guatemalan and Mexican immigrants have been detained at two Cumberland Farms.
Another client was walking to his job at a fish processing plant when he was stopped, she said.
Doyle said some of the detained include individuals who were protected by the Deferred Action for Labor Enforcement, a Biden-era program for people who are victims and witnesses of labor investigations and violations.
Todd Pomerleau is representing a few of the detained individuals with the Mass Deportation Defense, and said the inception of the raids were alarming.
"Within four hours, I must have 200 text messages. It was crazy, because there was so much chaos. Nobody knew at first who was detained, why they were detained," he said.
He's been concerned about the struggle to communicate with clients, and is concerned they will sign self-deportation paperwork without knowing it.
'"They pressure so many people to deport themselves when they're in those deplorable conditions at Burlington. We do this a lot. We file habeas, then the U.S. attorney is like, 'Oh, your client agreed to be deported.' I'm like, 'Hell no, not without advice by counsel,' because they don't let them call lawyers, and they pressure people to deport themselves."'
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and The Habeas Project have been connecting immigrants to pro bono attorneys.
"We started to hear reports of a number of ICE vehicles out in the streets of New Bedford, targeting people at gas stations, at grocery stores, at places that people just go when they're living their lives," said Heather Arroyo, senior immigration attorney at MLRI, who called it "racial profiling."
She's representing two individuals who were stopped at Cumberland Farms to buy gas and food.
"They were taken into ICE custody without any type of information, without any type of reason given as to why they were being taken into ICE custody and with no justification at all."
LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of MA shared a photo of what appeared to be a Ford van parked outside of the UMass Dartmouth center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Fall River after verifying ICE agents had been in the vehicle. The state didn't return request for comment about the incident. UMass property is state property, and Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order last winter blocking immigration enforcement from using state property.
"The University was not aware of this and has no active collaborations with this Agency. We're looking into the matter," said a media representative for UMass Dartmouth on Wednesday.
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