At least eight people were arrested Monday as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a major operation centered on New Bedford, according to local advocates and reporting by the New Bedford Light.
Mayor Jon Mitchell criticized the operation Tuesday, saying the arrests demonstrated what he described as continued overreach by ICE and raised concerns about the agency’s coordination with local law enforcement.
“Yesterday’s arrests in our city underscore that even under new management, ICE continues to overreach,” Mitchell said in a statement.
According to the New Bedford Light, a reporter witnessed an arrest near the waterfront Monday morning, while another reporter saw what appeared to be ICE agents in several vehicles using the Dartmouth Mall parking lot as a staging area.
The estimate of at least eight arrests came from Adrian Ventura, executive director of the Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores. The organization hosted a meeting for families of people arrested during the operation to provide information about available resources.
Ventura and other activists told the New Bedford Light that at least four of those arrested worked in fish houses.
Mitchell said there was no indication that those arrested had criminal records beyond minor motor vehicle violations. He also criticized ICE for not releasing information about the people taken into custody, saying the lack of information left their “friends, family and employers in the dark.”
The mayor also said ICE again failed to notify the New Bedford Police Department about its operations.
“And it failed yet again to notify our police department of its operations, putting at risk police officers who might arrive on scene,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell argued that the episode points to broader problems with the nation’s immigration enforcement system.
“This is not the way the system should work,” he said. “It reminds us yet again that America’s immigration law and the agency primarily charged with enforcing it must be overhauled.”
The arrests come amid continued immigration enforcement activity in communities across Massachusetts. Monday’s operation prompted local advocates to organize quickly to connect affected families with information and resources.
