EVERETT, MASS. (WHDH) - Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) is calling for an immediate state investigation after it said Everett police arrested and reportedly transported a 13-year-old boy to ICE custody. The group is demanding action from the state to determine whether local law enforcement violated state law by unlawfully facilitating federal immigration arrest.
LCR wrote a letter to Governor Maura Healey, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, and the Secretary for Public Safety and Security asking them to investigate the situation. The group is urging those leaders to issue updated guidance and mandatory training for all state and local law enforcement, establish an independent state-level oversight task force to monitor compliance, hold law enforcement officers with repeated violations of state law accountable, and provide compensation to support families whose rights have been violated.
Arthur Silva Bento, 13, was taken into ICE custody after he was arrested by Everett police last week. He is currently detained in an ICE facility in Virginia.
Everett police said they were given a credible tip that Bento had made a violent threat against another student at one of the city’s public schools last week. Police said they found he had a six to seven inch double-sided knife on him.
Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said Tuesday that police did not have any contact with ICE prior to the boy’s detainment, and the city was not responsible for the 13-year-old ending up in their custody.
“Everett police does not make arrests based on immigration status. Everett police did not contact ICE about this recent juvenile arrest,” said DeMaria. “ICE operates independently and has the authority to access certain law enforcement databases and take action on its own accord.”
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