ICE ENFORCEMENT:  IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES ‘TERRIFIED’

The New York Times recently printed an article concerning the enforcement efforts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the article, the focus of the work of ICE has been to track down and arrest people with criminal records, however the number of people arrested who do not have criminal records is on the rise.

The immigrant community has witnessed this in Massachusetts. MIRA members have shared stories about being pursued by ICE in their apartment complexes and in the street. The most common story is that an ICE agent comes to a residence looking for a particular individual. When it is determined that that individual does not live there or is not home, ICE agents ask the other individuals for their papers and immigration status. MIRA has also heard stories of ICE agents stopping people on the street to ask for their papers.

Heloisa Galvao, Executive Director of the Brazilian Women's Group in Allston, MA, states, “We have heard of at least 20 incidents of people stopped on the street or at their homes and asked for their immigration papers. It is terrifying the community. People are afraid to go home and sleep in their own beds. These people do not have criminal records. They seem to be detained because they look and sound foreign-born. That is racial profiling.”

Eva Millona, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, echoes these sentiments. “It is extremely troubling that these residents seem to be targeted because of how they look and sound. Though we understand that the mandate of ICE is to enforce immigration laws, we need to ensure that this is done in a way that is respectful and humane.”

-Adapted from “PRESS STATEMENT: No Place for Racial Profiling” e-mail, MIRA Coalition, February 10, 2009.

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