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Lawyers for Civil Rights calls for probe into Everett police over teen’s ICE arrest
The Boston-based organization said the “alarming sequence of events” raises questions about whether local police coordinated with ICE.
A Boston-based civil rights organization is calling for a state probe into Everett police following the controversial arrest of a 13-year-old boy who was later detained by federal immigration officials.
In an open letter to state leaders Friday, Lawyers for Civil Rights said it is “deeply concerned” about the role the Everett Police Department played in the teen’s transfer into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. The boy was ultimately sent to the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Virginia, hundreds of miles from home.
City officials said Everett police recovered a large knife when they arrested the middle schooler Oct. 9 following a “credible tip” that he’d made a violent threat against another student. ICE “immediately” sent Everett police a detainer after the boy’s fingerprints were entered into a nationwide database following his arrest, Mayor Carlo DeMaria said last week.
Previously:
“We did not call ICE,” he maintained on an El Mundo Boston podcast Thursday, contradicting claims from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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However, Lawyers for Civil Rights questioned whether Everett police went against state law by extending the boy’s time in custody to facilitate an ICE arrest. They contend the incident “underscores a broader pattern of escalating immigration enforcement in Massachusetts” and highlights a pressing need for statewide guidance for law enforcement.
“While the facts are still unfolding, this alarming sequence of events raises serious questions about coordination between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities and about whether Everett police officers violated [state law] and other legal restrictions,” the Lawyers for Civil Rights letter states.
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Calling on Gov. Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and interim Secretary for Public Safety and Security Susan Terrey, the organization demanded an independent investigation into the Everett case, updated guidance and mandatory law enforcement training, an independent state-level oversight body or task force to monitor compliance, and “adequate” compensation and support for affected families whose rights were violated.
Boston.com has reached out to Everett officials and Healey, Campbell, and Terrey’s offices for comment.
“This chilling incident exposes what may be a dangerous breakdown in legal protections for immigrants in our state — and the fact that it involves a child makes it even more alarming,” LCR staff attorney Jillian Lenson said in a statement.
A federal judge in Boston previously ruled that immigration officials must justify the boy’s detention or bring him in for a bond hearing no later than Oct. 17. However, because the middle schooler was already in transit when that order was issued, his habeas corpus petition was ultimately transferred to a federal court in Virginia. A judge there gave federal officials until Wednesday to bring him in for a bond hearing.
With ICE activity escalating statewide amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, Lawyers for Civil Rights said officials must act swiftly to protect residents’ rights.
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“Local and state officials have a responsibility to protect children, not funnel them into federal immigration detention,” LCR staff attorney Brooke Simone said. “This kind of conduct destroys public trust and strikes fear in entire communities. In Massachusetts, it’s not just wrong — it’s unlawful.”
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