ICE says it's 'not targeting nannies' at Boston playgrounds as rumors swirl across US
Rumors that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were detaining nannies at Boston playgrounds in the past week have been denied by the agency in a rare public statement — just days after similar fears spread in another major U.S. city.
'ICE Boston is NOT targeting nannies,' read a post on X from Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston at 6:03 p.m. on May 13.
'Rumors to the contrary are false and unnecessarily risk the safety of our officers and agents,' the post read.
In her own statement within the post, Acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said the rumors 'amount to nothing more than scare tactics' and are 'absolutely ridiculous.'
The denial from ICE comes just after debunked rumors circulated of ICE agents detaining nannies at playgrounds in Washington, D.C.
Those rumors began when people at a playground the Forest Hills neighborhood of D.C. saw local police making an unrelated arrest nearby, according to reports from NBC Washington and The Washington Post.
Two unmarked SUVs with dark-tinted windows had been seen idling in a nearby alley, The Post reported. This led to messages that read, 'ICE agents were taking nannies and leaving children in the park,' to quickly circulate on parents' group emails, WhatsApp chats and text chains.
'Not trying to create hysteria,' began one message that was sent from one parent to another, the Post reported. The message continued, 'They are in Forest Hills right now in full tactical gear and children are being left behind.'
The hysteria in D.C. resulted in immigration lawyers, Forest Hill neighbors and an elected official to converge on the playground area, according to the outlets — and left parents 'alarmed across the city.'
ICE spokesperson James Covington later responded to The Post with a statement almost identical to Hyde's, denying any rumors of nannies being detained.
ICE has not publicly commented on any other Massachusetts rumors related to detainments in recent months.
The Boston Police Department told MassLive that there were no arrests made or police activity at playgrounds in the Back Bay over the weekend or at the beginning of the week. The Boston Police Department is not involved in any ICE operations.
The Boston-based rumors appeared to start circulating online since at least Monday.
In the Boston sub-Reddit group, a user posted they heard ICE ''raided' Back Bay' and were 'scooping up nannies' at the playground located on Clarendon Street on Monday.
'Does anyone know if this is true? If so, what actually happened?' the user, merely identified by their screen name Standard-Bicycle-279, asked.
Those in the comment sections agreed they'd heard the same rumors. Some even went as far to definitively state, 'Yes, this is true.' Other online posts, including those made in a South End community Facebook group at 9:02 p.m. on Monday, also reiterated the fears.
MassLive reached out to City Councilor Sharon Durkan, who represents Back Bay, on Tuesday for commentary on residents' concerns. Durkan did not respond for comment.
Since President Donald Trump took office, ICE has detained several people in public settings in Massachusetts.
This includes Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University doctoral student taken by masked federal agents from the streets of Somerville in March. She was detained in Louisiana up until last week over an op-ed she co-authored in her student newspaper.
It also includes Wilson Martell-Lebron, a man whisked into an unmarked black SUV by ICE agents in the middle of his trial over falsified RMV records at the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse.
And just last week, ICE agents were at the core of a chaotic scene in Worcester when they detained a Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira, who came from Brazil, and the woman's daughter tried to stop the car with a newborn baby in her arms. She was being held in Rhode Island as of Monday.
A crowd of more than 30 people approached the agents as they took Ferreira-De Oliveira, shouting at them and demanding to see a warrant.
The daughter was arrested by Worcester police and charged with reckless endangerment of a child, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after she kicked at and ran after the car.
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Read the original article on MassLive.
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