Federal immigration officials blasted Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for touting ‘lawlessness’ in the aftermath of a wave of immigration enforcement in the state.
The statement from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons made direct criticism of Healey and Wu following the release of a Milford teen arrested on his way to volleyball practice by immigration officers looking for his dad.
Healey invited the teen, Marcelo Gomes da Silva, to the State House on Friday where she gave him a rosary she received at the Vatican.
“Politicians like Mayor Wu and Governor Healey have loudly touted lawlessness over law and order. Their prioritization of criminal aliens in communities across the state should speak volumes to their constituents. As these elected officials welcome those flouting national laws, ICE’s brave law enforcement officers protecting public safety will continue to perform the job they refuse to do,” Lyons said in a statement Sunday.
Healey returned the criticism.
“As a former Attorney General, public safety is always a top priority for me. ICE should be focusing on those with criminal backgrounds, like they said they were going to do,” Healey said in a statement to the Herald Sunday.
“Instead, they’re doubling down on their arrest of Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, a high school student who came here when he was 6 years old, has been a model member of his community, and has no criminal record. It just doesn’t make sense and it doesn’t make anyone safer,” she continued.
Lyons’ broadside against the Bay State leaders comes, according to an ICE spokesperson, after a great deal of “false reporting” on the conditions under which Gomes da Silva was kept by federal authorities following his arrest.
Federal authorities have claimed Gomes da Silva was arrested by agents who encountered him while they were looking for his father. In fact, ICE said Sunday, the 18-year-old isn’t allowed to be in the U.S. where he has resided for more than a decade.
“Marcelo Gomes da Silva, while bonded out by an immigration judge, is still residing in this country illegally, as are his father and mother. In fact, his father, who was originally reported to us by local law enforcement for consistent reckless driving, including speeds of over 100 mph in residential neighborhoods, is still evading the law,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
The agency said that Gomes da Silva has been lying to the public about his days in custody and that while being held in Burlington, he was provided three meals daily “to include fresh catered sandwiches,” as well as “prompt off-site medical attention, despite no issues being identified.”
According to ICE, Gomes da Silva even thanked one of the on site-officers, stating, “everyone is so nice.”
“It should also be noted that Congressman [Seth] Moulton and Congressman [Jake] Auchincloss toured the facility in Burlington immediately following his release and had no concerns,” the spokesperson said.
That latter characterization drew a prompt response from both Congressmen.
“Putting words in the mouths of federal lawmakers is nothing compared to detaining an 18 year-old for six days on a concrete floor without a window, so I guess that’s what we should expect,” Moulton said in a statement to the Herald.
“As I said both before and after touring the facility, Burlington was designed for temporary holding and processing only, and it is grossly inappropriate for detaining anyone overnight, let alone an 18-year old honors student. Obviously ICE needs continued, aggressive oversight here and everywhere,” he continued.
Both Auchincloss and Moulton did indeed tour the ICE facility in Burlington, and both of their offices also pointed Sunday to their reactions after the tour.
“The facilities that Congressman Moulton and I saw are not facilities that anybody should be spending 6 days in,” Auchincloss said on June 5.
After the tour, Moulton went so far as to describe the facility as an “inhumane” place for holding detained immigrants long term.
“When we were going on hikes in the Marine Corps, and you’d have like, a thin mat to sleep on at night in the woods, that’s more than they have here,” he said. “So for anyone like Marcelo who’s actually expected to stay here, to sleep here with no beds, not what anyone else would call a blanket, sparse food, no windows even. It’s obviously completely inappropriate.”
Gomes da Silva’s attorney Robin Nice also pushed back a Lyons on Sunday, specifically his characterization of “fresh catered sandwiches.”
“This is false,” Nice said. “Marcelo and others detained at the Burlington ICE Field Office were provided with inadequate food, typically comprised of crackers, beans and pink/raw ‘chicken.’”
Nice also said Gomes da Silva was told there was no medical care at the facility when he asked about treatment for a fever and sore throat. Gomes da Silva only received medical attention after the issue was raised by his attorneys, she said.
The Mayor’s Office did not return a request for comment Sunday.
Wu last week signed an executive order demanding details of individuals arrested by ICE, something Lyons said the agency would be happy to comply with.
“We look forward to showing the great work of ICE and the criminal illegal aliens that the city is harboring,” Lyons told the Herald.
The Trump administration late last week directed immigration officers to pause arrests at farms, restaurants and hotels, after President Donald Trump expressed alarm about the impact of aggressive enforcement, an official said Saturday.
Tatum King, an official with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, wrote regional leaders on Thursday to halt investigations of the agricultural industry, including meatpackers, restaurants and hotels, according to The New York Times.
“We will follow the President’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security spokesperson, said when asked to confirm the directive.
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, California the administration deployed members of the U.S. Marines and National Guard after anti-immigration rallies roiled the city. On Friday, about 200 Marines moved into Los Angeles to guard a federal building so that Guard soldiers can be assigned to protect law enforcement officers on raids.
— Herald wire services contributed.
