'Living in fear': Daughter of woman taken by ICE in Worcester sets up GoFundMe to support family
Augusta Clara Moura, 21, who set up the fundraiser, explained what happened leading up to the incident on Eureka Street on May 8. That day, her mother, Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, with Clara's sister and Worcester School Committee candidate Ashley Spring both arrested by Worcester police in connection with the incident.
'Everything began the day before, when ICE arrested my partner [Samarone Alves Ferreira-De Souza] — the father of my 3-month-old son — while he was driving to work," Clara Moura wrote. 'He had committed no crime. His only 'mistake' was honking at a car that had cut him off. That vehicle turned out to be an undercover ICE car, and agents decided to arrest him.'
Read more: Honking at undercover ICE car set off Worcester arrest firestorm, family claims
Ferreira-De Souza is currently being held at the Pine Prairie Correctional Facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, according to ICE's Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS).
On the morning of May 8, ICE agents came to Clara Moura's home and told her to sign immigration papers and 'demanding I return my partner's car,' she wrote. Clara Moura, her baby and her 17-year-old sister left the house in a car and ICE agents stopped them and told her she was under arrest.
'Since I was with my baby, I called my mother to come take my son,' Clara Moura wrote.
When Ferreira-De Oliveira arrived, ICE agents detained her, her daughter continued. At 11 a.m. that day, Ferreira-De Oliveira was placed in a car in the middle of the streets, according to Jill Phillips of Worcester, who was at the scene. Worcester police were called as people surrounded ICE agents and yelled, 'Where is the warrant?'
Ferreira-De Oliveira's other daughter, carrying Clara Moura's baby, stood in front of the car and tried to stop it, police said in a previous statement. She handed the baby to another woman before she ran up to the car and kicked the passenger side door as it drove away. Officers pushed her to the ground and arrested her for reckless endangerment of a child, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
'They even tried to take my baby from me, but thanks to neighbors who recorded and protested, they backed down,' Clara Moura wrote in the GoFundMe description.
Andrew Georges Lattarulo, Clara Moura's lawyer, told MassLive on Thursday that ICE threatened to arrest Clara Moura and her 17-year-old sister, an account that matches exclusive reporting from Rolling Stone Magazine, which reported that Clara Moura and her sister were used as 'bait' for ICE to arrest their mother.
Clara Moura's sister has since been released from custody and is now with family friends, along with Clara Moura, Clara Moura's baby and another sister who is also a child.
Ferreira-De Oliveira, who comes from Brazil, is currently being detained at the Wyatt Detention Center, in Central Falls, R.I., according to ICE's Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS).
'Now I am living in fear,' Clara Moura wrote. 'I'm staying with friends, unable to return home or retrieve any of my belongings or my baby's things. I cannot work, and I'm struggling to survive. Please consider supporting me and my family during this nightmare.'
So far, the fundraiser set up on Wednesday has received two donations totaling $70, with a $45,000 goal. Donations will go toward food, clothes, shelter, legal fees, bail 'and other urgent expenses,' Clara Moura wrote. 'No amount is too small. Your support means the world right now.'
'Thank you for standing with us,' Clara Moura wrote at the end of the GoFundMe's description.
Honking at undercover ICE car set off Worcester arrest firestorm, family claims
GoFundMe created to support family of boy killed in Boston school bus crash
GoFundMe raises money to send body of construction worker killed in Mass. to Ecuador
Read the original article on MassLive.
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