02-06-2025
Protests held in Amherst following arrests by ICE
AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) – It's been months now of ICE arrests going viral around Massachusetts, and now some residents are taking to the streets in protest.
'We believe that this is a system just to scare immigrants, it's a racist operation going on,' Patti Williams, a member of Franklin County Continuing Political Revolution, told 22News.
A last-minute protest gathered more than 160 people in Amherst. The Franklin County Rapid Response Network is urging the community to rise up and make their voices heard. This comes as ICE detained two people in Amherst on May 28th.
'We felt it important to be very public about the fact that we're outraged with this behavior. We do not think this is lawful, we see this as federal agents coming into our communities and separating families. There's a general campaign of terrorism going on,' Williams said.
Amherst community face ICE arrests despite sanctuary status
Over in the eastern part of the state, on Saturday, ICE detained an 18-year-old high school junior in Milford. According to the Milford superintendent, the student was on his way to volleyball practice with his teammates when their call got pulled over.
'The administration says that they're getting rid of criminals. The reality is that if people commit crimes, there's a system to deal with that, the justice system, where people are allowed due process,' said Williams.
The White House deputy chief of staff recently confirmed the administration's new plan regarding ICE arrests. He says the administration has a minimum goal to arrest 3,000 migrants who are in the country illegally, daily.
The Trump administration claims those being detained have committed crimes, pose a threat to national security, public safety, or have violated the terms of their visas.
'People feel like, oh what are we becoming, Argentina, where we have the disappeared.'
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
