ACTON — Uproar over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Acton sparked a large-scale protest Sunday, only a day after brokers detained a number of people within the city.
Organized hours earlier, the demonstration drew a whole bunch of individuals exterior Acton City Corridor within the afternoon in opposition to the enforcement actions.
The occasion, “Emergency Protest: Hands Off Acton Families,” was initiated by Lorena Betts, of the Peacemakers Community. Protesters lined the streets within the afternoon, chanting phrases like, “Say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE” and “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”
One protester held up an indication that includes a picture of President Donald Trump carrying a crown, with a daring purple cross putting via it.
“To have maybe 300 to 400 people here less than 24 hours after ICE was arresting Acton residents speaks to how concerned the community really is,” stated state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who was amongst those that spoke on the rally. “I think that’s important and sends a message of how much disagreement there is with the mass deportation agenda of the Trump-Vance administration.”
Acton Police Chief James Cogan on Monday launched a press release emphasizing that his division was not concerned in immigration enforcement.
“Acton Police were asked to respond solely for the purpose of maintaining public safety and managing crowd control. At no point did Acton Police officers take part in any enforcement actions related to immigration,” Cogan stated.
“Our presence was strictly to help ensure that the situation remained peaceful and that everyone’s rights — including the right to protest — were respected,” he continued.
On Saturday, Eldridge took to Fb to share issues concerning the detentions, stating that ICE arrested people from a Nice Highway house complicated and pulled over folks driving in a car close to Dealer Joe’s.
“I have no other information at this time about the people detained, or about ICE’s actions in Acton, but my staff and I are here to try to connect the immigrants arrested with immigration lawyers,” Eldridge stated on Fb. “To the general public, I want to be absolutely clear that this is what ICE is doing, carrying out President Trump’s executive order to deport all undocumented immigrants. And this is now common practice, as another Marlborough constituent of mine was arrested by ICE this week.”
The urgency of Sunday’s protest mirrored the alarm felt by members of the group over ICE’s presence, in accordance with Betts, a Chelmsford resident.
“Yesterday in Acton there was a person who was arrested — abducted — by ICE on Great Road,” Betts stated after addressing the gang on Sunday. “He was stopped by ICE and the windows of their truck were smashed. There’s videos of that.”
She added that ICE additionally maintained a presence for hours at an area condominium complicated, the place households had been additionally taken into custody. Betts famous that she has not but spoken to the households concerned, however emphasised issues over ICE enforcement techniques.
“We have not talked directly to the families yet, but we have been seeing a pattern, as we saw in Worcester, with agents saying they don’t need a warrant and they will break windows needlessly and be violent and violate due process, so we are here to say we are paying attention and we will be filming and documenting these events,” Betts stated. “We will not intervene in any form, but we are here to be witnesses to this injustice and hopefully the justice system will hold them accountable at some point.”
Additionally on Sunday, Eldridge acknowledged that he had spoken with Cogan who stated ICE had notified the division earlier within the day about its deliberate enforcement actions within the city.
Eldridge famous Acton law enforcement officials did reply to Nice Highway on Saturday on account of site visitors security issues surrounding the way in which ICE brokers carried out their operations.
Eldridge added that a number of residents described to him seeing unmarked vans pulling over a driver, with brokers carrying masks and vests however missing any seen ICE insignia. He stated this led to a degree of confusion amongst bystanders about who these people had been.
“I do think it’s important for the Acton Select Board to talk to the Acton Police Department about what is the protocol when ICE agents are in the community,” Eldridge stated.
“We understand this is a deeply emotional and complex issue,” Cogan stated in his assertion Monday. “Mutual trust and cooperation between law enforcement and the community are essential, and it is vital that all individuals in our community feel safe coming to the Acton Police with information or requesting assistance. The department is not permitted to intervene in ICE enforcement operations. ”
Eldridge added that he had not but contacted ICE instantly however deliberate to take action within the coming days.
Observe Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
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