Activist group to deliver letter to Gov. Healey calling for action against ICE detainments

BOSTON — A group known as LUCE plans to deliver a letter to the governor at noon on Thursday, calling for action to prevent the ICE detainments.

“We’re bringing together speakers from across the state representing various communities and organizations to really name and put into words the atrocities we’re seeing – just in the past two weeks,” said Jaya Savita, director of Asian Pacific Islanders Network, which supports LUCE.

Savita works with LUCE, a new immigrant resource network that started a hotline in March for people to report ICE sightings.

They received hundreds of calls just last weekend for ICE activity in Massachusetts and that’s when their team responds.

“They’ve been trained to document but not to intervene, to be eyes and ears for the people,” said Savita.

But some have started to intervene with these ICE arrests.

Two people were arrested for assaulting officers in Worcester last week while ICE took a woman into custody. One of those who interfered with the arrest was the woman’s teenage daughter.

“My God this is just a Monday morning, I’m running errands, and this is becoming all too commonplace, it’s not right it’s not the country we are,” said Susan Cassidy, who witnessed another arrest on Lexington Street in Newton Monday morning. “It was just horrifying, and my heart went out to the gentleman in question because these men were completely covered up, you’d have no idea who they were, they could have been anybody.”

Many are concerned about the way ICE is detaining people, but U.S. Attorney Leah Foley says everyone should let ICE do their job.

“The interference with ICE operations around Massachusetts has been disturbing, to say the least. This conduct poses significant public and officer safety risks. It is conduct that should be vilified rather than glorified,” said U.S. Attorney Foley in a statement Wednesday. “I will not stand idly by if any public official, public safety officer, organization or private citizen acts in a manner that criminally obstructs or impedes ICE operations.”

Foley says anyone who tries to interfere with these ICE arrests may also be arrested and charged.

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