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ICE agents reportedly used Worcester woman’s grandchild as ‘bait’
When her mother rushed outside their home to take custody of the infant, federal agents arrested Ferreira De Oliveira and no longer seemed interested in arresting her daughter, the younger woman told Rolling Stone.
Federal immigration officials allegedly used a woman’s daughter and grandchild to lure her out of her home before arresting her last week, according to advocates and reports.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Rosane Ferreira De Oliveira while dozens of people surrounded federal agents in a tense sene on Worcester’s Eureka Street May 8.
Worcester police arrested two people at the scene, Ferreira De Oliveira’s 16-year-old daughter and a Worcester woman who is running for School Committee.
The incident has received national attention, with Rolling Stone reporting on ICE’s “bait” tactic and CNN sharing video of the incident from LUCE, an immigrant justice volunteer organization with a hotline to report ICE activity.
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Ferreira De Oliveira’s 21-year-old daughter, Augusta Clara, told Rolling Stone that ICE first arrested her partner and father of her 3-month-old son last Wednesday.
ICE then told Clara to “sign some documents at an immigration building,” but then stopped her car close to her home and threatened to arrest her on Thursday, Rolling Stone reported.
“Since I was with my baby somebody else needed to be there to take him. So I called my mother to come over and take my son for me, and then the immigration agents wanted to arrest her as well,” Clara wrote in a draft public statement shared with Rolling Stone through her attorney.
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Clara told Rolling Stone that when her mother rushed outside their home to take custody of the infant, federal agents arrested Ferreira-De Oliveira and no longer seemed interested in arresting the younger woman.
“I am currently staying with friends, as I am too afraid to return home. I am unable to retrieve any of mine and my baby’s things and I am unable to work because of my current predicament,” Clara’s statement continued.
Sources told Rolling Stone that ICE used Ferreira De Oliveira’s child and grandchild as “bait” to lure her outside her home.
ICE agents frequently use “ruse” tactics to lure people they have targeted for arrest into public spaces, according to the Immigrant Defense Project. The agents “are allowed and encouraged to use ruses,” including impersonating police, the organization said.
“ICE agents rarely have judicial warrants, so they need consent to be able to enter a home,” IDP’s website says. “Knowing that people are unlikely to give consent if they know the agents are ICE, ICE agents lie about who they are and what they are doing so that unsuspecting individuals will let them into the home and won’t know that they can exercise their rights.”
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Ferreira De Oliveira was arraigned on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a pregnant victim by Worcester police in February, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
She allegedly used a phone charging cable to strike a pregnant relative, according to public records obtained by MassLive.
Ferreira De Oliveira, who is originally from Brazil, is currently being held in Rhode Island, according to ICE’s inmate tracker. Worcester police declined to comment on the case against Ferreira De Oliveira. Because the case involves alleged domestic violence, police said they “can’t share anything about it.”
“The details that appear to have leaked online did not come from us,” the department said.
Fallout in Worcester after arrests
Worcester City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj was at the scene on Eureka Street. She said neighbors formed a “human ring” to keep the family away from federal agents. DHS accused the councilor of pulling “a political stunt,” while the Police Patrol Officers’ Union has claimed she assaulted officers.
Haxhiaj did not return a request for comment. In a video of the incident, she appears to be arguing with a Worcester police officer over the use of force used on a woman who, she said, was pushed to the ground.
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“It is unnecessary,” Haxhiaj said. “You guys were acting disrespectfully, okay? I’m trying to protect my constituents … I have a right to be here. I’m the city councilor, and I’m protecting my constituents.”
In chaotic videos of the incident, a person who appears to be the teen girl screams as up to five officers detain her. Another person pushes police officers, who then shove her into a front yard before arresting her.
Ashley Spring, a candidate for School Committee, is charged with assault and battery on a police officer with a dangerous weapon, an unknown liquid she allegedly threw on officers. She pleaded not guilty last week.
U.S. Attorney Leah Foley released a pointed statement about interfering with ICE operations in the state, calling it “disturbing, to say the least.”
“It is conduct that should be vilified rather than glorified,” Foley said. “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.”
Worcester has seen multiple protests in the days since the arrests, including during an “emergency protest” on Sunday and one on Tuesday evening before a Worcester City Council meeting. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty closed City Hall to the public and moved Tuesday’s meeting to Zoom, saying city employees had received threats.
“What happened on Eureka Street was a crime, and police should have been called, but they should have been called to protect the woman who was being kidnapped,” said resident Karla Moore. “I’m here on the Common today outside City Hall, and I have to tell you, there’s no violence here. You have nothing to fear from these people.”
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