Senate President Karen Spilka compared sweeping arrests by federal immigration authorities since President Donald Trump took office in January to Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in Europe during the 1930s.
More than
1,400 people were arrested
here in May by federal agents as part of an operation targeting people who are allegedly in the United States illegally, and protests in California have
exploded this month
over actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Spilka said ICE agents are “kidnapping people.”
“This reminds me of the 1930s in Europe, when Hitler’s rise — I hate to make this comparison — but, rise to power, when people were just being arrested without warrants,” Spilka said. “We have a constitution. We are a country based on the rule of law.”
ICE officials have faced similar accusations from Democrats across the country. In a social media post earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security called those comparisons “sickening.”
But even as Spilka denounced ICE, she made clear that action is unlikely this year on key immigration policies and rulings, including a
seven-year-old court decision
that bars local law enforcement from detaining people based solely on suspected civil immigration violations.
“I do not believe that local law enforcement should be assisting (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement),” Spilka told the Herald inside her State House office this past week. “I think right now, that is what is happening in Massachusetts. Local law enforcement is clear that they do not assist ICE unless there is a criminal warrant. So I think for now, that it’s clear.”
Spilka also threw cold water on
legislation from progressive Democrats
on Beacon Hill that would further limit interactions between local police and federal authorities, including by barring law enforcement here from performing the functions of an immigration officer.
Critics argue the 2017 court ruling provides “sanctuary” protections to undocumented immigrants who are wanted by ICE for civil deportation proceedings. Supporters say it does not impede the work of federal immigration officers and sets clear boundaries for local authorities.
The ruling bars local law enforcement from keeping someone in their custody solely based on a civil immigration detainer issued by federal officials. That means a person can typically go free even if ICE is looking for them as part of civil deportation proceedings.
Multiple Republicans have filed legislation on Beacon Hill that would hand local law enforcement the authority to hold people on civil immigration detainers, and the Legislature could be gearing up for tense committee hearings around local immigration laws.
That comes as interactions between state authorities and federal immigration agents have burst into the spotlight over the past month.
President Donald Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops and active duty Marines in California over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom to quell, at times, violent protests in Los Angeles against ICE actions. The troops were also assigned to protect ICE officers.
On his social media site Thursday, Trump
said
Los Angeles has been “safe and sound” ever since National Guard troops and Marines were sent to the city.
“Our great National Guard, with a little help from the Marines, put the L.A. Police in a position to effectively do their job. They all worked well together, but without the Military, Los Angeles would be a crime scene like we haven’t seen in years. Governor Gaven NewScum had totally lost control of the situation,” Trump said.
Spilka said “most of the people” ICE agents have arrested are not criminals.
“I think of the 18-year-old from Milford who was on his way driving to high school and to a volleyball practice. They stopped him, they acknowledged that he was not the person they wanted to detain, but they detained him. They took him nonetheless. This is not what America stands for,” she said.
ICE agents arrested Marcelo Gomes da Silva last month while he was on his way to volleyball practice. Federal agents later said they were trying to find Gomes da Silva’s father, who allegedly entered the country illegally.
A judge
ordered Gomes da Silva released
earlier this month.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said the agency arrested or helped detain 1,461 people in May who were accused of living in the country illegally, including 790 he said were charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States or abroad.
Spilka slammed ICE for their actions in Massachusetts.
“They are literally in masks kidnapping people because there’s no warrant,” she said. “Sometimes they are taking them out of state, and we don’t even know. We don’t know where they go, or they’re taking them to El Salvador or someplace else. This is not what America stands for.”
