Local News
Three people in Somerville have been detained by federal agents this week, according to reports and state Rep. Mike Connolly.
A Somerville man was “abducted” by federal agents last week, a state representative said, as apparent federal immigration agents reportedly swarm the Boston suburb.
Rep. Mike Connolly shared a video on social media of “masked and menacing Homeland Security agents” in East Somerville last Monday. The video, taken by a local attorney and shared with Connolly, showed people, presumably agents, getting into unmarked cars and wearing black masks that cover the lower-half of their faces. Their tactical vests also appear unmarked.
The agents detained a man named Luiz, Connolly said, who only shared his first name to protect his identity. Luiz was doing his laundry at the time of his arrest, Connolly said.
“It was disturbing, I think,” Connolly said in an interview. “There really has not been a lot of transparency. I think there’s been a real lack of due process in a lot of these activities, and so what becomes so troubling is it’s really hard to have confidence in anything that these federal agents are doing.”
Annery Miranda, a lawyer with the Greater Boston Legal Services, confirmed the case is ongoing, noting that “we are fighting to protect his constitutional rights as it relates to his detention in federal court.”
GBLS was contracted by the City of Somerville, a city spokesperson said.
The city said it worked to identify the man taken after they were alerted to the detainment Monday morning. The federal government confirmed the detainment to Somerville police after the arrest, but did not share his identity.
“Staff identified the person by piecing together information from multiple community members,” the spokesperson said. “Swift identification of detainees is critical in filing habeas corpus petitions to keep them in Massachusetts near loved ones and to protect their due process rights.”
Miranda didn’t confirm Luiz’s whereabouts, but Connolly believes he may have been transferred out of state. Some immigration detainees are rapidly transferred out of New England, sometimes due to bed availability and jurisdiction matters, a practice advocates say sows chaos and fear.
Connolly briefed Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s office on the situation; she condemned “the targeting of our immigrant neighbors.”
“Trump and ICE are terrorizing Black and brown families and abducting our neighbors off the street. None of this makes us safe, it puts our constituents and our district at risk,” Pressley said in a statement. “My office is in touch with Luiz and his counsel, and will continue conducting real-time oversight of ICE and other rogue federal agencies complicit in this.”
Two more detained in Somerville during apparent crackdown
Over the weekend, more sightings of federal agents were reported on social media and by local outlets. Connolly shared that DHS agents were back in Luiz’s neighborhood near the East Somerville Community School on Saturday.
Cambridge Day, a local paper, reported that another man was arrested last week, and a third person was taken Saturday. Connolly said on social media that man was “lawful” but was detained anyway.
“They produced no warrant, stated no probable cause, and when pressed, reportedly said ‘you look like the description of the problem’ in reference to the man they have immediately abducted,” Connolly wrote. “This would appear to be an unlawful, unconstitutional kidnapping based on racial profiling.”
The City of Somerville said around 30 people who live or work in Somerville have been detained since the beginning of the year, the spokesperson said.
ICE did not respond to requests for comment about Luiz or the other arrests in Somerville this past week.
“So many of our friends and neighbors are being subjected to this, this kind of treatment,” Connolly said in the interview. “He was someone with family, someone who worked,someone who was a part of the community.”
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