At least one of the immigrants who was detained by federal officials on Tuesday was given the choice to either leave the country on his own or be deported.
Chris Miller, owner of Miller’s Professionals in Oak Bluffs, said one of his workers was detained by immigration enforcers on Tuesday. Miller said he heard from eyewitnesses that federal officers had stopped his worker’s truck across from Vineyard Grocer on State Road in Tisbury and asked for papers before detaining him. The worker was driving to work from home when the arrest happened.
Miller said that his worker has been taken off-Island and is being held in Burlington. Miller said that the worker has only been able to contact his wife, who bought him a plane ticket that will depart to Brazil on Friday. Miller said the wife and children will also be leaving in the next month or so.
Miller declined to provide the worker’s name and the family could not be immediately reached for comment.
In a joint operation led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), federal authorities descended upon the Cape and Islands on Tuesday and arrested around 40 people. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, around 20 detained individuals were taken off of the Vineyard.
In a Wednesday press release, ICE stated many of those arrested “had U.S. criminality,” including a MS-13 gang member and a child sex offender, but they did not specify what the remaining potential crimes entailed. James Covington, ICE spokesperson, could not immediately verify how many people were taken from the Vineyard.
Covington also could not immediately say whether other individuals were given the option to leave the country on their own, saying this was a “case by case basis.” He did say that ICE has a facility in Burlington for short-term stays to process arrested individuals, such as verifying detainees’s statuses, paperwork, and confirming identities. Burlington is where ICE’s Boston Field Office is located.
The sweeping arrests made on the Vineyard have gripped Island immigrants with fear, with many not showing up to work — as was the case when rumours of ICE spread in January. Even on the Steamship Authority ferries, workers noted that early morning ferries, often taken by commuting workers, were emptier than usual.
For Miller, some of his workers did not show up to work on Wednesday and deliveries for clients have been delayed. He noted that other Island businesses have also seen workers not showing up to work on Wednesday, which he said can be seen at grocery stores, lumber yards, and other vendors. Additionally, he said some families are afraid to send their children to school.
“People are very scared,” Miller said, noting even those with green cards or other legal immigration designations are worried. “A lot of immigrants don’t understand … why people have been taken.”
While Miller said he hopes the issue goes away soon, it is difficult to say how the Vineyard will be impacted, particularly if ICE agents come to the Island unannounced.
“Everybody’s playing it as it comes,” he said.
Other business owners on the Vineyard have noted that even if their documented employees are likely safe, continued ICE activity would put the Island in a tough spot since there are many undocumented workers.
Miller highlighted that so many undocumented workers were on the Island, and across the country, because of the high demand. He said workers — particularly those in the Hispanic, Brazilian, and Jamaican communities on the Island — help “make dreams come true,” especially in the trades.
“We appreciate what they do for our community and for our country,” Miller said.
Following the arrests on the Islands, Congressman Bill Keating, who represents the Vineyard in the U.S. House of Representatives, encouraged impacted families to reach out to his office.
“Congressman Keating was made aware of the presence of federal agents on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket today by concerned constituents,” the statement from Keating’s office reads. “While the specifics of these detentions remain unknown at this time, Congressman Keating encourages any family members of those detained to contact his office so a Congressional inquiry can be submitted to ICE to ensure due process is followed and not, once again, thrown to the wayside.”
Adios amigo!
My question is how can we help families become legal citizens? We know and love the people that work, play and go to church with us. If they agree to go back home do they get to return immediately? What’s the process? I don’t want people to be living in fear. President Trump, please give people here illegally a process to gain citizenship in local communities? We obviously don’t want criminals in our neighborhoods but we do want good people here. Can we sponsor people who are here illegally? There must be a better way than rounding them up…
How ignorant can we be?!! It’s all in writing . Rules! Published for DECADES! Known by everyone!
“Miller said that the worker has only been able to contact his wife, who bought him a plane ticket that will depart to Brazil on Friday. Miller said the wife and children will also be leaving in the next month or so.”
Exactly like Nazi Germany, where every Jew was granted a phone call and the gentle, physically harmless option of booking a commercial flight, ultimately to be reunited with family in a month’s time.