Appearing ICE Director Todd Lyons is slamming Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton for calling to prosecute the company.
Moulton made the feedback to reporters on Monday following an oversight tour of the ICE facility in Burlington, saying if Democrats are to regain the bulk in Congress, that “the abuses of ICE need to be prosecuted. Not just defunded — prosecuted. They need to be held accountable to the law that they claim to enforce.”
In a cellphone interview with the Herald, a livid Lyons known as Moulton’s phrases “disgusting,” occurring to query why the congressman would take such a stance towards regulation enforcement.
“Disgusting. That’s pure political theater and I don’t understand why the congressman wants to go ahead and call for the prosecution of law enforcement officers that are actually his constituents,” Lyons mentioned.
“There are people that are out there in the country illegally and ICE is following the law,” he added. “Specifically, for Congressman Moulton, ICE is following the law that he and his counterparts have codified and written and had the opportunity to change. So, instead of calling for the doxxing and violence and resistance against ICE officers and agents, or saying that ICE agents need to be prosecuted, they should be trying to fix the Immigration Nationality Act, which they have the power to do, yet don’t have the strength of the stomach to do it.”
Lyons went on to query if Moulton — who’s working for U.S. Senate towards incumbent Sen. Ed Markey within the September main — is making an attempt to intensify his political picture for his marketing campaign.
“I’m not sure why he would go ahead and want to run on a platform where you want to have law enforcement officers and agents prosecuted,” Lyons mentioned. “And I believe his feedback will backfire. I’ve had so many distinguished people in Massachusetts and so many native regulation enforcement leaders attain out to me and say they had been simply as outraged and so they couldn’t consider it as properly.
“So, I am not sure why he would want to use the backs of the brave men and women of ICE just to gather some votes,” he added.
The Herald additionally requested Lyons about feedback made on the Home flooring Wednesday by Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, who claimed that her workplace has documented “hundreds of cases” of ICE unlawfully arresting authorized residents, utilizing extreme pressure, and racial profiling.
“Rogue, masked federal agents are violating people’s civil rights—glorified bullies masquerading as public servants. They terrorize our communities in the name of so-called ‘law and order,’ while detaining and deporting our neighbors without due process,” Pressley mentioned.
“My office has documented hundreds of cases marked by excessive force, racial profiling, and the unlawful arrest of legal residents. Just last month, rogue federal agents descended on the Allston neighborhood in the Massachusetts 7th, the diverse community that is home to small businesses and music venues that are welcoming to all,” she mentioned.
Markey has additionally chimed in together with his personal allegations of abuses by ICE, posting on X on Tuesday about an oversight tour of an ICE facility in Louisiana, the place he says pregnant ladies detained on the facility reported medical neglect and infections, leading to miscarriages.
“In April, I visited the ICE detention facility in Basile, LA, and heard directly from women detained there. We need answers from the Trump admin about reports of inhumane conditions, medical neglect, and miscarriages at Basile. Pregnant women deserve dignity, not cruelty,” Markey posted.
Lyons says Pressley and Markey’s claims are “absolutely ridiculous.”
“Senator Markey has visited ICE facilities, including in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts facilities, like the one in Plymouth County, are some of the finest ones in ICE’s inventory and have always scored the highest marks of detainee standards,” Lyons mentioned.
“ICE doesn’t deport U.S. citizens or other individuals who are here legally. That’s just a flat-out lie and you constantly hear nowadays that ICE is doing this. I will tell you the only U.S. citizens that are being arrested in Massachusetts are the ones who are listening to elected officials like them that decide to resist ICE or illegally interfere with a lawful ICE operation,” he continued.
Moulton’s go to to the Burlington facility got here following allegations of abuse and inhumane remedy of detainees by native activists. They declare detainees are held in rooms with out primary requirements, together with beds, home windows, cleaning soap, clocks, and “hardly any food or water.” Additionally they say detainees are being held on the facility for lengthy intervals of time with out due course of.
Following the go to, Moulton advised reporters and demonstrators that the observations he made throughout his earlier go to to the ability in June remained the identical, however did observe that detainees appeared to have been getting processed in a extra well timed method.
“Some of the observations I made on my last visit, that there were not enough blankets, and adequate facilities for people to be detained here for any length of time, those have not changed, but we have been promised that they will change,” mentioned Moulton. “We are going to follow up and stay on top of them to make sure they get basic humanitarian things like sleeping mats so they are not sleeping on concrete floors or concrete benches, to make sure they get adequate meals that meet basic humanitarian standards.”
Lyons pointed to the person detainees who had been being held on the facility on the day of Moulton’s oversight tour, and the violent expenses they face, for instance of the kind of individuals who the congressman is advocating for.
“If you go ahead and you look at the individuals who were arrested that day and that were there when he was in the facility. We had a Dominican national that was arrested for distribution of fentanyl, distribution of crack cocaine, assault and battery, carrying a dangerous weapon and a pending charge for armed robbery. Then we had a El Salvadorian with convictions of rape of a child, rape of a child by force — three counts. And then you had a Cambodian with convictions of raping a child and indecent assault,” Lyons advised the Herald.
Lyons had additionally responded to the Herald’s inquiry on the allegations in a earlier report, saying the ability in Burlington is supposed to quickly maintain detainees till they’re moved elsewhere.
“The ICE field office in Burlington is intended to hold detainees while they are going through the administrative intake process. Afterwards, they are usually moved to a longer-term detention facility. There are occasions where detainees might need to stay at the Burlington office longer than the anticipated administrative processing time,” mentioned Lyons.
The Herald has reached out to Congressman Moulton for remark.
