Congressman Bill Keating, a House Democrat who represents the Vineyard in D.C., is demanding that federal immigration officials provide more information on the surge of detentions that they have made in Massachusetts, a week since masked federal officials detained some 40 people on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
In a June 2 letter to top Trump administration cabinet members, Keating criticized the lack of transparency in the recent Immigration and U.S. Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that led to around 20 people being arrested on Martha’s Vineyard. He demanded answers from the agency on how the operation was conducted, including who had been detained, and whether federal officials had made efforts to contact family members.
So far, ICE has publicly identified only one individual with Vineyard ties who was detained: 29-year-old Luciano Pereira Deoliveira, who was indicted in Dukes County Superior Court in December on charges that include child rape. No other Vineyard detainees have been named by ICE since Tuesday’s raid.
Keating’s letter comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday that the sweep of the Islands was part of a larger operation where nearly 1,500 people were detained in May across the state. Many of the detentions have led to a public uproar, including the case of Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, an 18-year-old Milford high school student who was arrested in the sweep on his way to volleyball practice.
Keating’s letter was addressed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, Federal Bureau of Investigation director Kash Patel, and U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
“While the specifics of the detentions last week on the Islands and in Plymouth still remain less than clear, and ICE has not provided the information I have requested, this Administration has a responsibility to the American public to not only adhere to the rule of law but also to be transparent in their actions,” Keating said in a statement to the Times. “In the wake of these detentions, families did not know where their loved ones had gone and communities were gripped by fear — but the tactics being employed are intentionally designed to do just that.”
Keating is hardly alone in calling for more answers. Other state lawmakers and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey have called for ICE to release more information. Keating underscored that it was uncertain whether any U.S. citizens had been accidentally detained and urged ICE to follow due process. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell has also issued a “know your rights” guide in the days following the Vineyard operation.
On the same day Keating sent his letter, ICE revealed in a press release that the Vineyard arrests were a part of the sweeping, month-long “Operation Patriot” which resulted in 1,461 undocumented individuals being detained in Massachusetts. According to ICE, 277 of those detained in the operation had been ordered to be removed from the United States by an immigration judge. ICE also released the photos of 14 people, alongside crimes they’ve been accused of, though names were excluded.
Of those 14, Deoliveira is the only person with Vineyard ties that ICE has identified. ICE called him an undocumented 29-year-old Brazilian national “charged in Edgartown with aggravated rape of a child by force, possession of child pornography and dissemination of obscene material.” According to ICE, Deoliveira was also arrested earlier in Edgartown “for assault and battery (family) and kidnapping.”
Dukes County Superior Court records also show that a warrant for Deoliveira’s arrest was issued on May 29.
Federal law enforcement lauded the operation’s results.
“Make no mistake: Every person that we arrested was breaking our immigration laws, but most of these individuals had significant criminality,” Patricia Hyde, acting field office director of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston, said in the release. “They are criminal offenders who victimized innocent people and traumatized entire communities — murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child sex predators and members of violent transnational criminal gangs. Some were convicted of violent crimes in the United States, and others were wanted for criminality in their native countries. All made the mistake of attempting to subvert justice by hiding out in Massachusetts.”
ICE had previously stated that around 40 individuals had been detained from Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. In a previous press release issued on May 28, ICE stated many of those arrested “had U.S. criminality,” including an alleged MS-13 gang member and an alleged child sex offender. ICE spokesperson James Covington told the Times the child sex offender was referring to Deoliveira.
ICE has yet to reveal what crimes the other individuals arrested on Martha’s Vineyard have been accused of.
Keating also criticized the operation and agents that carried out the raid for concealing their identities while making arrests. He said that wearing masks and using unmarked vehicles set a dangerous precedent. And he criticized the agency for not speaking with local law enforcement beforehand.
“It is also vital to understand the risks created by the administration’s decision to abandon the long-held practice of notifying local law enforcement officials ahead of enforcement actions,” Keating said in a statement. “Masked, plain-clothed federal agents apprehending people off the street while refusing to identify themselves has caused understandable distress for those detained and the risk of harm to federal agents and local police must be taken into consideration.”
Lyons, ICE acting director, defended the use of masks during a Monday press conference in Boston. Before rushing off of the stage, he said there had been cases of ICE agents and their family members being doxxed, which is when someone maliciously publishes another person’s personal information, and being labeled as “terrorist.”
“People are out there taking photos of the names, their faces, and posting them online with death threats to their families and themselves,” Lyons said. “I’m sorry if people are offended about them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their families on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is.”
Vineyard police chiefs have told the Times that federal officials are not required to notify them of operations beforehand. Oak Bluffs Police Chief Jonathan Searle said while departments generally want communication for “officer safety,” he highlighted that ICE operations are happening nationwide and local police do not have a role in them unless an incident happened, like assault.
“We can be notified last minute and do what we need to do, which is basically nothing,” Searle said.
Still, Searle said Vineyard police chiefs have reached out to ICE asking for information on who has been taken. So far, they have not received any information.
