Donning masks and Kevlar vests loaded with tactical gear, a platoon of armed federal agents in unmarked vehicles landed on our shores last week, and swept the community looking to detain and then deport immigrants, as part of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration policies.
The agents pulled over vans packed with construction crews and landscaping trucks, and chased down hard-working people who live and work in the trades here year-round.
In several instances, the agents chased — or hunted might be the more appropriate term — these working people into the woods and through roadside stops of vans, as migrants literally ran for their lives, not knowing who these masked pursuers were.
They ran, several told us, because they did not want to take a chance to comply and trust that they would receive due process. And, honestly, why should they? Similar raids across the country have proven that the rights of most of those detained are not respected. And a spirit of arrogance and contempt for immigrants that has defined so many ICE raids across the country seemed in full force here on our Island.
Last week shocked our Island, and it felt like suddenly we were living in a different country where the rule of law was being trumped by an aggressive anti-immigrant campaign directed by the White House through agents who resembled the kinds of thugs I’ve seen operate in police states during my work as a foreign correspondent in many corners of the world. Myanmar and Egypt come to mind.
We are better than this, and the big challenge before our community now is how to be sure we are in support of the rule of law, and that we do not allow those who break the law to divide us. That means being clearheaded about the people who may have violated our immigration laws when they are deported, and being just as clear about federal agents who want to try to run roughshod over our Constitution and our own local laws here on the Island.
Some of these federal agents had clear markings for the DEA and FBI or ICE. At least one brandished a tattoo known as a valknot, which has a long history and a modern affiliation with white nationalism. The situation was confusing and alarming not only to the immigrants, mostly hardworking Brazilian men, but also to our local police departments, who were not informed of ICE’s plans beforehand.
During the raid, more than 40 people were arrested on the Islands, and about half of those were on Martha’s Vineyard. Those detained were seen handcuffed with zip ties in Menemsha, and being marched onto Coast Guard boats and taken to the mainland for processing.
The images have created a wave of fear and anxiety that has crashed across the shores of the Island. Most Brazilian workers are staying away from their jobs in construction, landscaping, housecleaning and restaurants, while parents are not sending their children to school. Federal agents have operated on the Island on many occasions in past years, but no one came with masks, and the officials identified themselves and the purpose of the arrests.
As we have reported, Islanders are pushing back against these current ICE raids in support of our neighbors, friends, and co-workers. Those who are resisting include business owners and community leaders. They are the same kind of people who came together to support the 50 Venezuelan immigrants whom Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his team tricked into boarding a chartered plane with false promises of jobs and housing, and then dumped them at the Island airport. It was a political stunt by DeSantis and operatives who wanted to embarrass the Island, known for its liberal politics. But, actually, the stunt backfired, and presented an opportunity for Martha’s Vineyard residents to show their respect and support for immigrants by taking them in and making sure they were cared for and properly treated. A handful of the Venezuelans elected to stay on the Island.
The idea of Martha’s Vineyard as a frontline in the political battle over immigration policy is not new, but what has emerged were some new strategies of confrontation. They include: a strong show of solidarity by church leaders, who have issued a statement of support for immigrants and condemning the raids; and a few brash citizen journalists — or advocates — who have taken to quite literally getting up in the faces — or at least the masks covering those faces — of the federal agents, and demanding that they identify themselves and explain their reasons for making arrests.
In one video, Charlie Giordano, a local man who sells motorcycle parts, used his iPhone to confront a masked agent on Tuesday in a heated verbal assault where he asked who the agent represented and why he was making the arrests. The masked man gave Giordano what he called an “official warning” that if he interfered, he would be arrested. West Tisbury Police Officer Noah Stobie was able to calmly defuse the tense situation by informing both Giordano and the masked federal “agent” that any citizen has every right to videotape an action taking place on a public street under his First Amendment rights. Other residents also have been videotaping the agents as an act of civic vigilance, and some held up protest signs.
Local politicians have also challenged the legality of the ICE tactics.
Massachusetts state Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents the Cape and Islands, said in a statement that “the operation appears to have gone far beyond any targeted effort.” He said work vans were pulled over on both islands, and people “were questioned without clear cause.”
“While federal officials continue to cite the arrest of two individuals with criminal histories, that does not justify these broad, indiscriminate tactics with little regard for due process,” Cyr said.
The Supreme Court unanimously stated last month in a per curiam (unsigned) opinion, “Detainees are entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard appropriate to the nature of the case.”
Lost in all the legal coverage and in the high level of emotion and anxiety over these raids are the portraits of who these members of the community being taken away really are. Our newsroom has struggled to get even basic information from an ICE spokesman.
They may be “undocumented,” or they may be working on achieving a work visa, but it does not mean they should be denied due process, including the right to know who the person is behind the mask, and why they are being taken into detention. They should not be denied their right to an attorney, or to make a call from the detention center off-Island in Burlington, where they were being processed.
To counter that narrative, let me tell you about what our reporter Paula Moura, who hails from the region of Minas Gerais in Brazil, like most of the immigrants on the Island, learned in her reporting. Please take the time to read her full story to get a better picture of the kind of people who are being caught up in this raid.
She tells the story of Luciano Dacoal, who is married to an American, and who was in the process of getting his green card and had a permit to work in the U.S. He is described as a gentle giant who wouldn’t hurt a fly. He has no criminal past. His daughter had just arrived from Brazil, with a boyfriend who was becoming part of the family. It was the first time Dacoal had met his daughter’s boyfriend. And on Tuesday, while traveling to a job site in the trades, he was ripped from a work van and taken to a processing facility where people were said to be sleeping on a cold and wet floor. He has been given the option of returning to Brazil, but — like many others in the immigrant community — his home is here.
Our reporters have done work to speak with a few others who have been detained and their families and co-workers, and a narrative emerges that is deeply troubling. Our reporting on the ground indicates that the Trump administration has been targeting immigrants in what may be a quota for arrests to make this program financially viable as a way to reduce the immigrant population in the U.S. ICE refuses to comment on questions about what drives the policy, or any specifics on the charges against those arrested.
We have also spoken to several advocates in the Brazilian community who paint a deeply troubling picture.
One woman who knows several of the families said she could only speak on the condition of anonymity: “Sadly, we know about life in an autocracy, and we know how vulnerable that can make you.”
She was referring to Brazil’s history under military dictatorship, but also under the populist leader Jair Bolsonaro, who, while president from 2019 to 2023, was referred to as the “Trump of the Tropics.”
“The Brazilian community is very afraid right now, and they are also experiencing sadness because they realize this effort will not stop, and that many will have to leave and pull up the roots they have here,” she added.
She added, “I think people are being given the wrong impression of the Brazilian community through these raids and through the way ICE is framing the arrests. The truth is the vast majority of those arrested are honest, hard-working people.”
However, she wanted to be sure to stress that there is a kind of silver lining in the dark cloud over the Brazilian community on the Vineyard: “I think this crisis right now has people pulling together, making the community stronger. They are looking out for each other. Those who have documentation are picking up kids at school, or going to the grocery store for those who may be worried about their immigration status, or be in the process of applying for a work permit. And we are seeing the wider community of the Island also offer to show support and to help.”
That is a form of dissent, she said, since authoritarian regimes, whether under Brazil’s Bolsonaro or Trump, want us to stay divided. That’s their goal as part of a strategy to divide and rule, and, she added, “Hopefully people are going to do their best to defy that, and find a way to help each other through a very difficult moment.”
These are some words of wisdom for our Island, and I hope all of us will resist the tyranny of what is happening by working together, and staying focused on a fair application of the rule of law for all who live and work here.
Charles M. Sennott, the publisher of The MV Times, writes the weekly GroundTruth newsletter on Substack, and a version of this column was first published there. You can subscribe to his Substack at charlessennott.substack.com.
