Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) condemned recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in her state, calling the estimated 40 arrests “disturbing.”
“Local police chiefs have zero information about what’s happening in their communities. We at the state level have zero information about what’s happening in communities. And that needs to change,” she said, as per Boston Herald. “We need to get answers. We need to get clarification from ICE. And it was very disturbing, needless to say, to wake up to that news about that activity on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.”
Authorities with ICE Boston, FBI Boston, DEA New England, and ATF Boston arrested the migrants, including at least one child predator.
“Operations like this highlight the strong alliances that ICE shares with our fellow law enforcement partners,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde. She added, “Our partners in the U.S. Coast Guard facilitated a safe and efficient transport of the alien offenders off Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, ensuring the safety of the residents of those communities. ICE and our federal partners made a strong stand for prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing illegal aliens from our New England neighborhoods.”
“It’s one thing to go after and target those who have committed crimes, who are here unlawfully,” the governor told reporters. “It’s concerning when we see people, moms and dads, being ripped away from families. Neighbors, coworkers taken away, literally it looks like, on the way to job sites in Nantucket and on the Vineyard.”
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that officials “did notify local authorities about the enforcement operations,” explaining that Healey “should get her facts straight—apparently, she is the one with ‘zero information.’”
