Residents Protest ICE Facility In Burlington

BURLINGTON, MA — A protest group is holding weekly rallies at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Burlington.

Recently, there have been concerns that the facility is being used as a detention center.

Related: Town Demands Inspection Of Burlington ICE Facility

The building on District Avenue is close to the Burlington Mall.

Below is a statement from the protest group:

Every Wednesday for the past twelve weeks, a steadily expanding group of area residents (over 200 at last count)—concerned about ICE’s recent escalation of chaotic detentions and deportations—has been gathering outside a benign-looking office building at 1000 District Avenue, in the shadow of the Burlington Mall.

Their reason? “To show love and support for the immigrants being detained [at the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Office] there,” say organizers Jared and Laurie Berezin, as well as “bear witness to our government’s unconstitutional actions, and direct our collective shame at ICE.”

While the ICE office has called Burlington “home” since 2008, it managed to operate in relative secrecy until May 31 of this year, when the Agency detained Marcelo Gomes da Silva, an 18-year-old high school senior from Milton. After much media attention, Gomes da Silva was released six days later, and he spoke of sleeping on a concrete floor, being given little or no food, with no access to a sink or shower, and limited toilet access.

Strangely, the office building is not zoned to house people overnight. In fact, back in November of 2007 when the facility was first being considered, the then-New England regional director of ICE said as much, assuring the Burlington public meeting to whom he was speaking that there would be no overnight detentions there. “You will note that we have no kitchens and no dining rooms,” he said, “and therefore we cannot keep people overnight or over the weekend.” And accommodations have not since changed. The Burlington Select Board is currently awaiting a response from ICE to its formal demand, issued in late June, for inspection of the facility.

In the meantime, local citizens plan to return weekly to let ICE know they are being seen: “What brings us together is a shared belief that the immigrants who built this country—and those who continue to come here fleeing persecution with the hope of better lives for themselves and their families—deserve better,” said Berezin. “All people in this country, citizens and immigrants alike, have constitutional rights, and we are here to bear witness to this cruelty and to show our support for the dignity of every human being. And we welcome others who believe likewise to join us every Wednesday between 11:00 and 1:00 as we protest the inhumane actions of our government."