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ICE arrests 11 roofing workers in Lowell in latest immigration raid
ICE declined to publicly identify any of the people arrested during an operation in Lowell that targeted a roofing company.
Eleven people working for a roofing company were arrested by federal immigration officers in Lowell Friday, according to federal officials.
Workers for a Massachusetts-based roofing business, which was not identified, were arrested at a staging area for the company, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a press release Monday.
ICE worked with Homeland Security Investigations special agents and ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations to target the business’s “alleged unauthorized hiring practices,” the agency said.
When contacted, ICE declined to name the company or any of the people arrested.
Five more people were arrested in East Boston by undercover ICE agents, NBC 10 Boston reported. A spokesperson for ICE said “the operation in East Boston is still ongoing. For officer safety, ICE does not comment on ongoing operations.”
Lowell, East Boston operations are latest crackdown on immigrants
Massachusetts has seen a surge of ICE arrests since Boston was targeted by the federal government for its “sanctuary” policies, including several high-profile arrests. After a mother was detained in Worcester, hundreds have gathered for protests against ICE’s actions in the city. In New Bedford, ICE smashed a car window to detain a man with no criminal record. He was released a month later.
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In April, a man was detained by ICE outside a Boston courthouse amidst his jury trial. Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University graduate student who was arrested by ICE agents in Somerville, was recently released from ICE detention after being arrested ostensibly due to a pro-Palestinian op-ed in a student paper.
Governor Maura Healey addressed the immigration crackdown on Boston Public Radio earlier this month, including the arrest of the Worcester mother. She called “the lack of due process” in Öztürk’s case “fundamentally wrong,” but emphasized that Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state.
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“Law enforcement can, must and should work together to investigate and apprehend those who are committing criminal activities,” Healey said, adding that “some of what I’ve seen when I look at the actions of ICE around the country is really disturbing and problematic.”
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