Latest news with #Ferreira-DeSouza
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Worcester father of 4-month-old deported after ICE ‘violated his rights,' attorney says
The Worcester father of a 4-month-old child was deported to Fortaleza, Brazil, after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials signed a deportation authorization document in his name without his permission, according to his attorney. Samarone Alves Ferreira-De Souza, the partner of 21-year-old Augusta Clara Moura and father of her baby, was deported to Brazil from his detention center in Louisiana on May 25, said Andrew George Lattarulo, an immigration lawyer from the Chelsea-based firm, Georges Cote Law. Ferreira-De Souza was arrested by ICE on May 7 after he honked at an undercover car with ICE agents in Worcester while he was driving to work, Lattarulo previously told MassLive. Clara Moura witnessed her mother, 40-year-old Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira of Brazil, be arrested and detained by ICE agents one day later. In the wake of his deportation, Ferreira-De Souza's partner, Clara Moura, has been feeling 'very sad,' Lattarulo told MassLive. She and her 4-month-old son will leave for Brazil on June 6 to be with Ferreira-De Souza, the lawyer said. On May 25, Lattarulo received a phone call from his client in Brazil. During the call, Ferreira-De Souza said that ICE officials asked him if he would sign a form authorizing his deportation from the United States, according to Lattarulo. The lawyer isn't sure what form ICE agents signed and said he was not provided a copy when he asked the agency. Even though his client refused, Lattarulo stated that ICE informed Ferreira-De Souza that they had signed the document on his behalf. 'When my client questioned it, they said, 'we already signed for you. You're going back.'' Lattarulo said. 'They didn't even let him talk to us the last few days he was incarcerated.' The attorney went on to say that Ferreira-De Souza was not provided due process before his deportation. 'ICE is trying to deport people now without immigration hearings,' Lattarulo said. 'They violated his (Ferreira-De Souza's) rights and they're doing it to everyone they can.' ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday. Lattarulo told MassLive that his client is doing fine but has decided not to fight his deportation in court as he was tired of being in the United States. The May 7 and May 8 ICE arrests sundered Clara Moura's family. Now, with her leaving the country and her mother's continued detainment, her two sisters are in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, according to Lattarulo. The day after Ferreira-De Souza was arrested, Clara Moura — through her lawyer — said ICE came to her home, telling her to return her partner's car and sign immigration paperwork. She said she left her house with her baby and her 17-year-old sister, intending to comply with the order. 'That's when ICE stopped my car and told me I was under arrest,' Clara Moura said. 'Since I was with my baby, I called my mother to come take my son.' Clara Moura also claims that ICE agents also attempted to take her baby from her but they backed down due to protests from neighbors. When her mother arrived, ICE agents attempted and succeeded in arresting her. Screams and chants of 'don't take the mother' erupted on Eureka Street as a crowd of more than 30 people confronted the agents. Clara Moura, along with her 17-year-old sister, both saw their mother being taken away and put into an SUV. Worcester Police Officers arrived at the scene after 11 a.m. after 911 calls were made from ICE agents requesting police assistance and calls from people at the scene. Body camera footage worn by Officer Juan Vallejo that was released by the Worcester Police Department on May 16 showed Ferreira-De Oliveira's teenage daughter run up to the side of the SUV's front passenger door. Police later claimed she tried to kick the door, but it is difficult to confirm this due to the shaky footage and the large police presence. Vallejo and other officers surrounded the girl and moved her to the ground on the street. During the arrest, an officer yells, 'You're under arrest for disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace.' The daughter was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment of a child, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to police. Following her arrest, she was released from custody to be with family friends along with Clara Moura, the baby and another daughter of Ferreira-De Oliveira, who is a minor. On May 16, Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier announced the department requested a court to dismiss the case against the daughter. Saucier said in a statement that 'it is important to emphasize that assaulting or interfering with law enforcement officers as they carry out their duties is never acceptable.' With Clara Moura and her son moving back to Brazil, Lattarulo said that the two other sisters may in the country. He believes that Ferreira-De Oliveira has been in contact with her family, but he does not have any further information. The mother of three is currently being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island. A lawyer for Ferreira-De Oliveira did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday. ICE has ratcheted up operations in the past four months following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, and has been very active in Massachusetts. While the Trump administration has maintained that its enforcement efforts are confined to targeting 'illegal immigrant killers, rapists and drug dealers‚' several of the arrests have been for much more minor crimes — right down to an argument over a cell phone. Several ICE arrests were reported throughout Massachusetts in May. On May 27, about 40 people on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard were arrested by ICE during an operation, with the U.S. Coast Guard taking them off the island. ICE agents were seen making traffic stops in unmarked vehicles Tuesday, May 27, MassLive's media partner, the Vineyard Gazette, reported. On May 31, an 18-year-old student from Milford High School was arrested and detained by ICE agents while he was headed to volleyball practice. The student was identified as Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, according to WBUR. A habeas corpus petition filed by the student's attorney reads that Gomes Da Silva arrived in the United States in 2012 through a student visa, according to WBUR. The visa has since lapsed and Gomes Da Silva 'intends apply for asylum,' WBUR reports. In response to the filing, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Sterns released an order on Sunday afternoon stating that Gomes Da Silva must not be moved out of Massachusetts for at least 72 hours, according to WBUR. On June 1, protesters gathered in Milford, decrying against the arrest and demanding Gomes Da Silva's return. In a statement, Gov. Maura Healey said she was 'disturbed and outraged' by the reports of the 18-year-old's arrest. 'Yet again, local officials and law enforcement have been left in the dark with no heads up and no answers to their questions,' Healey said. 'I'm demanding that ICE provide immediate information about why he was arrested, where he is and how his due process is being protected.' Mass. Hidden Gems: Comfy classics and a mystery menu at Peppercorn's Here's where to see fireworks this weekend in Massachusetts Worcester teen who died eating spicy chip to be honored with street Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
Honking at undercover ICE car set off Worcester arrest firestorm, family claims
The daughter of Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira, a Brazilian mother of three who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on May 8 at Eureka Street, says that the arrest of her mother started after her partner honked at an undercover car with ICE agents. Augusta Clara Moura, the 21-year-old daughter of Ferreira-De Oliveira, presented new details about how ICE arrested her mother as well as her partner, and how she was threatened with arrest by ICE agents. Through her attorney, Andrew George Lattarulo, Clara Moura said her partner Samarone Alves Ferreira-De Souza, who is also the father of her 3-month-old baby, was arrested by federal agents the day before ICE took her mother. Lattarulo is also representing Ferreira-De Souza. Ferreira-De Souza had honked at a car that cut him off while he was driving to work, according to Clara Moura. The car turned out to be an undercover ICE vehicle and agents arrested him. 'He had committed no crime,' according to Clara Moura. 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). DHS and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Ferreira-De Souza on Thursday. On May 8, the day after Lattarulo said Ferreira-De Souza was arrested, Clara Moura said ICE came to her home, telling her to return her partner's car and sign immigration paperwork. She said she left her house with her 17-year-old sister and her baby, intending to comply with the order. 'That's when ICE stopped my car and told me I was under arrest,' Clara Moura said. 'Since I was with my baby, I called my mother to come take my son.' When her mother arrived, ICE agents attempted and succeeded in arresting her. Clara Moura claims that ICE agents also attempted to take her baby from her but they backed down due to protests from neighbors. Lattarulo 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 launched a GoFundMe on Wednesday that details how ICE arrested her mother and partner and how she was threatened with arrest by agents. Lattarulo said that he and his spokesperson helped organize the GoFundMe for Clara Moura. The donations to the GoFundMe will go towards food, clothes, shelter, legal fees, bail and other urgent expenses, according to Clara Moura. As of May 15, there have been two donations, one worth $20 and another worth $50, according to the GoFundMe. 'Now I am living in fear,' Clara Moura writes. '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.' Eureka Street erupted into pandemonium on the morning of May 8 as ICE agents arrested Ferreira-De Oliveira — Clara Moura's mother. More than 30 people confronted federal agents that morning, demanding to see a warrant and shouting at them for their actions. Ferreira-De Oliveira was already placed in a car by 11 a.m. that morning, according to Jill Phillips of Worcester, who was at the scene. Worcester police officers were then called to the scene for a report of a federal agent who was surrounded by a 'large group of about 25 people,' according to a statement from the Worcester Police Department (WPD). At the scene, officers saw several federal agents from various agencies attempting to leave in a car after arresting a woman, police said. As the car was pulling away, Ferreira-De Oliveira's underage daughter, who had a newborn in her arms, stood in front of the vehicle attempting to halt it, police said. Officers told her that she was endangering the baby and that she needed to move. The daughter complied and gave the baby to another woman. As her mother was taken away in the car, the daughter ran after it and kicked the passenger's side. It then appeared as if she was going to run in front of the moving car, police said. Worcester police then moved to arrest the daughter, who was pushed to the ground by police. The daughter was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment of a child, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to police. Following her release from custody, the daughter is now with family friends along with Clara Moura, the baby and another daughter of Ferreira-De Oliveira, who is a minor. Ashley R. Spring, a school committee candidate, was also arrested that day. She was charged with assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct and interfering with police officers. Appearing in Worcester District Court on May 9, Judge Janet McGuiggan entered a not-guilty plea on Spring's behalf. Spring was released on her own personal recognizance and is scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial hearing on June 23. As of May 15, Ferreira-De Oliveira is currently being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, R.I., according to ICE's Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS). The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused Ferreira-De Oliveira of entering the country illegally in 2022, according to a statement from the agency, which was shared with Spectrum News 1 Worcester. Lattarulo told MassLive on Monday that she was seeking asylum. The statement also reads that Worcester police arrested her on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery on a pregnant victim. Court records obtained by MassLive read that Ferreira-De Oliveira was suspected of using a phone-charging cable to strike a pregnant relative three months ago. She initially appeared in court on Feb. 3, where she pleaded not guilty and paid $500 cash bail, according to court records. Her last court appearance was a pre-trial hearing on March 24. On Tuesday, Judge Zachary Hillman scheduled Ferreira-De Oliveira's trial date for July 18, according to court filings. In the wake of the arrests on Eureka Street, protests have been held in Worcester, the most recent one taking place on May 13 outside City Hall. The rally, which was organized by Mysti Green, Walter Crockett and members of the progressive political group Worcester Indivisible, featured signs with phrases such as 'Crush ICE.' One poster presented an image of Worcester City Manager Eric D. Batista wearing a vest that reads ICE. Chants for ICE to 'get out of Worcester' rang throughout the common as people banged on drums and rang cowbells. Initially, the rally was set to take place leading up to a City Council meeting on Tuesday at 6:30. The meeting was switched from in-person to virtual after the rally was announced. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said city officials received 'threats of violence.' Some residents did attend the virtual city council meeting, with some speaking during a public comment period in order to admonish the city council, the city administration and WPD. Some accused the department of collaborating with ICE in their operation on Eureka Street. 'There are two explanations for this,' said Marcus Palumbo of Clark University at the meeting. 'Either you, the council, have completely lost control over the police department, or you are actively complicit in their actions.' In his comments during the meeting, Petty said that there needs to be an understanding of what Worcester Police Officers can do when it comes to dealing with ICE. Last week, Petty filed an order asking City Manager Eric D. Batista and Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier to draft a new policy regarding interactions between city officials and ICE. 'I take this seriously,' Petty said. 'I think the Worcester Police Department went to the scene and were trying to calm things down. And this is why we need to have a policy and protocols on how we interact with ICE.' City Council Vice Chairman and Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King praised District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj for her leadership during the incident on Eureka Street. Haxhiaj was one of many people who confronted ICE agents on Thursday during the arrest of the mother. King also renewed his call for a civilian review board to provide police oversight and said there could have been a better response to how Worcester Police Officers handled the arrest of the mother's daughter. 'This child should have been held, she should have been restrained. She wasn't trying to harm anyone,' King said. 'She was trying to save her family and doesn't speak the language. We don't know what was going on in her head. We can do better and we must do better.' Worcester taxi driver attacked after requesting cab fare, police say GoFundMe raises money for family of woman detained by ICE in Worcester US Attorney says interference with ICE in Mass. has been 'disturbing,' won't be tolerated Read the original article on MassLive.
