Days after seemingly false rumors that federal immigration officials were planning a raid on Martha’s Vineyard, Islanders rallied at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven in support of their immigrant neighbors.
A couple of dozen — amid honks of support from passing vehicles — held signs calling for protections for immigrants and resisting what they called an extremist Trump administration that has promised — and in major cities, carried out — mass deportations.
Behind the scenes, Island advocates have been meeting to coordinate and provide information and resources to those fearing deportation, including planning to post individuals at locations that could be targets for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents making arrests, connecting with immigration attorneys, and possibly creating a safe house for undocumented residents to go to if they are in danger of being detained.
But there is also worry from Island business leaders and owners that with an economy supported substantially by an immigrant workforce, the simple fear of deportations could have a significant impact on the Island economy.
“My fear is that if there isn’t clear communication from the government, you’ll have major disruption in the trades on the Island,” said Cole Powers, owner of Cole Electric. “It’ll have a major impact on the Island economy.”
The concern and the move toward action materialized on Thursday last week as rumors circulated –– through social media and through a web post that the state’s Attorney General’s Office called fraudulent — that ICE agents had come across Vineyard Sound on the Steamship Authority and were planning raids on the Island.
Local law enforcement says the rumors were false, and ICE has not reported any detentions on the Island in recent days. Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan Searle told The Times that he has been told ICE’s interests on the Vineyard are to apprehend individuals who have committed offenses like violent crimes or illicit drug activities.
But the fear generated from the rumors was very real. On Thursday, some Martha’s Vineyard schools reported nearly double their normal absentee rate, which officials say is likely because parents — and their children — stayed home over fears of being deported. A proprietor of a large Island business reported that 20 percent of staff did not show up to work. Lumberyards were eerily quiet, and Steamship boats, generally packed with commuters, were more spacious.
Kelly Hill, manager at Tony’s Market, captured what many were feeling as she recounted their slow business. “It’s been a weird day. It felt like COVID. The streets are empty,” Hill said. “Not many people coming in, and a lot of disbelief.”
The Times interviewed a number of construction workers and companies that reported that multiple workers had called out for the day — as many as half of at least one construction crew in Edgartown that was building a rock wall to accompany a mansion. One high school student told The Times that they showed up for a shift at a local pizza shop on Thursday instead of going to school, because the restaurant was down several workers.
Powers said he had one electrician, who is fully documented, who called out of work on Thursday over fear of deportation. Powers also teaches his trade at night classes at Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, and noted that many missed Thursday’s class.
Powers worries that it isn’t just the undocumented who will be affected if rumors of ICE raids persist; he worries that others, even those who are fully documented, will worry about being detained as well.
To help, Powers hopes for clear communication that federal customs officers will be targeting criminals, not individuals who are working and haven’t committed any crimes. “We can contribute to the hysteria and fear, unless someone can step up and explain what is actually going on,” he said, noting that the greatest fear is that there is a mass exodus from the Island.
But noting the harsh rhetoric of President Donald Trump, some local elected officials say they can’t make that promise.
State Senator Julian Cyr, a Democrat from Provincetown who represents the Islands, said that it’s unclear if ICE agents under the Trump administration will be targeting only criminals who are undocumented on the Vineyard. And he acknowledges the impacts that could have on Island businesses into the future.
“This is but one of the many adverse consequences that Islanders and Cape Codders are going to see from a federal administration that is hell-bent on executing an extremist agenda,” Cyr said. “This will upend lives and instill fear. I’m afraid this is the start of what will be a very difficult period for many in the region and in the country.”
Larkin Stallings, owner of the Ritz Café and board member of the Oak Bluffs Association, also worries about the impact deportations and fear of deportations will have on the Island. He notes that the Island seems like it has a target on its back, considering the political ploy in 2022 to send a plane full of Venezuelan migrants to the Island. He said that he does not have undocumented workers as part of his business, but he sees the fear from Trump’s promises impacting not just undocumented workers but many immigrants. He said it is still unclear going forward how much of this fear will impact business down the line, noting that it is still too early to tell. He also notes that it isn’t just a loss of workers that is a worry — it could also mean a loss of customers.
But what bothers Stallings most is not necessarily the financial impact, it’s the fear seen in the immigration community on the Island.
“The most important thing to me is that the people I care about are afraid,” Stallings said. “They are such a big and really important part of this Island. My prayer is that we can keep our heads down, and this will pass.”
Saturday’s rally
Supporting the Island community was a significant reason why about 20 or so Islanders gathered at Five Corners on Saturday, with Thursday’s display of fear on the immigration community weighing heavy on their minds. Ralliers held signs reading “I pledge to resist,” and “Protect people, resist hate.”
Chilmarker Marina Kaufman said that she came out of concern for Vineyard immigrants. She herself had emigrated to the U.S. from Morocco, and she said that she felt for people afraid of encountering immigration agents: “We have to protect these people, because they are part of the workforce of the Vineyard. And they’re human beings. They have children in schools; they’re scared. And it breaks my heart, it really does.”
Bill Bridwell told The Times that Trump’s threats of expanding deportation efforts led him to come to the rally.
“It’s the grabbing people in their homes and taking them, and shipping them out to countries where they haven’t been in years and years, you know?” he said. “I can understand if someone has committed some sort of crime, they should be dealt with … But a lot of these people are hardworking individuals who are trying to make a living, and they pay taxes, and they’re good neighbors.”
Saturday’s demonstration was held by the Vineyard’s chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) –– locals organizing for a national group that describes itself as a network of “groups and individuals organizing white people for racial and economic justice.”
Organizers were there to raise signatures for a commitment to protect others’ rights during the second Trump Administration.
Attendees also took home red cards — a handout in English and Portuguese listing one’s rights in an encounter with ICE — as well as a “Know Your Rights!” sheet with similar information.
Saturday’s rally also inspired Islander Babara Plesser to pursue an ambitious plan for a demonstration on Joseph Sylvia State Beach. She told The Times that she pictured at least a thousand people joining hands there in solidarity with the immigrant community.
“The idea would be to form a human chain of a thousand or more people along the bike path, and just call it a frontline for an intelligent immigration policy,” she told The Times.
Paula Moura, Eunki Seonwoo, Daniel Greenman, and Nicholas Vukota contributed to this report.
