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Boston’s Allston-Brighton neighborhood — home to a significant immigrant population — has felt the impacts of the nationwide increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainments over the last month.
Residents have taken to social media to report an increase in ICE’s presence, sharing nearly 30 incidents of alleged ICE activity in the past month. Many remain unverified; in 14 of the incidents, The Crimson could identify officers in vests labeled “ICE” or “POLICE.” While ICE repeatedly declined to confirm any detainments in the neighborhood, Boston City Councilor Elizabeth A. “Liz” Breadon said her constituents are concerned about detainments documented online.
“We encourage people who see something happening to report it,” Breadon, who represents Allston-Brighton, said. “We need to know that this is happening in our neighborhood and across the city and across Massachusetts.”
Breadon’s office confirmed that reports from constituents who have encountered ICE have increased since the beginning of May. But in the absence of any official information from the agency, it has become harder to distinguish rumors from reality.
“One of the dangers is that you just hear rumors, and rumors get repeated, and then it makes people even more fearful,” Breadon said. “We know ICE is here and we know they’re lifting people, but the rumor mill just makes it more difficult for people, makes them more fearful.”
Allston residents began reporting ICE incidents in early May, posting videos and photos of law enforcement agents to a neighborhood Facebook page with nearly 9,000 members.
Memorial Day weekend saw a dramatic increase in reports. Residents took to Facebook to upload eight posts alleging ICE activity — including two with visible “ICE” and “POLICE” vests — since Thursday. And Lucy Pineda and Elizabeth Amador, two Boston-based activists, have shared footage of seven other incidents this weekend.
“The ICE presence even today, which is a holiday — and there’s definitely an ICE presence in the neighborhood today. It’s been documented,” Breadon said.
In a widely circulated video from Saturday, two law enforcement agents were seen detaining a man from his car in the middle of Faneuil Street in Brighton.
A volunteer from the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts — a network of immigration rights organizations working to collect reports of ICE arrests across the state — said the agents were likely from ICE based on their “POLICE” vests and vehicles.
An ICE spokesperson declined to confirm if the agency was involved with the incident, citing partnerships with other federal agencies.
While the holiday weekend saw a spike in social media reports, Allston-Brighton residents have spent the past month documenting alleged ICE incidents.
Videos of at least five reported ICE detainments — two of which include videos with officers in ICE vests — have circulated widely on Instagram and in Facebook groups since the beginning of May, warning residents of heightened immigration enforcement. An ICE spokesperson declined to confirm the agency’s involvement in the incidents.
“Due to our operational tempo and the increased interest in our agency, we are unable to research and respond to every rumor or discuss specifics of routine daily operations,” an ICE spokesperson wrote in a Tuesday statement.
A May 9 detainment sparked neighborhood outrage after a Brighton Edison Elementary School student filmed individuals wearing ICE vests detaining a man at the intersection of South Waverly Street and Duval Street. The video, filmed from the inside of a school bus, shows the agents breaking the windows of the man’s car before removing him from the vehicle.
According to Breadon’s office, school officials contacted families at Edison and the nearby Gardner Pilot Academy to support students who had witnessed the detainment.
“We were aware that the school was working with social workers and counselors to try and help address the distress that the kids were in,” Breadon said.
Reports of ICE activity continued in the weeks since, as residents have documented agents detaining individuals while wearing vests reading “ERO” — short for Enforcement Removal Operations, an agency within ICE that enforces domestic immigration laws.
Photos posted to the Allston-Brighton Facebook page show an agent wearing an ERO vest escorting a man from his car on Royal Street in lower Allston on May 15. Days later, on May 18, a video that has garnered thousands of views shows agents in an unmarked vehicle wearing ERO vests driving the wrong way down Hooker Street.
These arrests come on the heels of targeted threats against Boston. Todd M. Lyons, appointed by Trump to acting director of ICE, said that the agency was planning a second “surge” of arrests in Boston in late April, specifically targeting individuals involved in fentanyl trafficking.
Similarly, in regards to the May arrests, an ICE spokesperson wrote that the agency was “focusing on aliens who pose a threat to the security of our communities – that is, the ‘worst first.’”
No information has been released on the criminal records of any individual recently detained in Allston-Brighton.
As residents scramble to report ICE’s presence across the neighborhood, many are seeking support from the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts. Upon receiving a report, LUCE dispatches volunteers to scenes of ICE activity to attempt to verify and collect information about the incident.
Heloisa M. Galvão, executive director and co-founder of the Brighton-based Brazilian Women’s Group, pointed to LUCE as a hotline to centralize information. Over the past month, Galvão has hosted livestreams in Portuguese on Instagram updating residents on reported ICE threats in the neighborhood.
“Seek information, good information, and just go about your life,” Galvão said, encouraging residents to document any incidents with federal law enforcement agents.
Amid amplified fears, Galvão encourages residents to be resilient and seek accurate information — especially as ICE continues to keep much of its activity in the dark.
“We know all the rumors that are flying high in our communities. We don’t know if they are true or false. We have no idea. What we can tell you is: Be careful. Don’t let fear dominate you. Don’t let the panic set it in,” Galvão said.
—Staff writer Emily T. Schwartz can be reached at emily.schwartz@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @EmilySchwartz37.
—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.
—Staff writer Kevin Zhong can be reached at kevin.zhong@thecrimson.com.
