ICE moves mother taken in chaotic Worcester arrest across state lines
The Brazilian mother arrested last month on Eureka Street in Worcester by federal immigration officials is now in a New Hampshire corrections facility, according to her attorney.
Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira, a 40-year-old mother of three who was apprehended and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on May 8, was moved from the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to New Hampshire, attorney Paul Toland told MassLive on Thursday.
A search for Ferreira-De Oliveira's name on ICE's Online Detainee Locator System (ODLS) confirms she is currently detained at the Strafford County Corrections facility in Dover, New Hampshire.
The transfer took place on Tuesday and ICE did not provide a notice or a reason for the change in location, according to Toland.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Federal immigration officials claim Ferreira-De Oliveira entered the country illegally in August 2022, which led to ICE taking her into custody.
Toland, however, maintains the mother of three was paroled and allowed into the country by ICE as she pursued asylum.
Ferreira-De Oliveira's asylum case will be presented before a judge during an individual hearing scheduled for Sept. 23, according to Toland.
While Ferreira-De Oliveira was previously detained at the Wyatt Detention Center, Toland claimed she was moved to different cells in the facility and did not receive pain medication for her shoulder, which, he claimed, was injured by ICE agents when they detained her.
'Wyatt Detention is a very depressing detention center,' Toland said. 'With barbed wire everywhere. She's not even getting pain medication in there for her pain.'
A previous statement from a senior Department of Homeland Security official disputes Toland's accusations.
'ICE has provided Ferreira with prompt medical care and services, and she has not filed any grievances or complaints regarding delayed medical care,' the senior official wrote May 23. 'ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously.
On the morning of May 8, Eureka Street in Worcester erupted into mayhem as ICE agents apprehended and arrested Ferreira-De Oliveira.
The 40-year-old woman was arrested in front of two of her children — a 17-year-old girl and 21-year-old Augusta Clara Moura, who was holding her 3-month-old son in her arms at the time.
Read more: Worcester father of 4-month-old deported after ICE 'violated his rights,' attorney says
More than 30 people approached the agents on the street and shouted at them, demanding they show a warrant for the arrest.
After 11 a.m., members of the Worcester Police Department arrived on Eureka Street following 911 calls that were made by ICE agents requesting police assistance and other calls from people at the scene.
Body camera footage worn by Worcester Officer Patrick Hanlon, released by the Worcester Police Department on May 16, recorded the ICE agents as they arrested Ferreira-De Oliveira.
In the footage, Worcester District 5 City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj can be seen walking toward the officers and Ferreira-De Oliveira. The footage shows her grabbing Ferreira-De Oliveira's arm and pleading with the agents not to take the woman. Two of the ICE agents flung the councilor off Ferreira-De Oliveira.
As the agents moved to a gold Ford SUV, Haxhiaj reached out for Ferreira-De Oliveira. Hanlon grabbed her hands to pull her back and told her to stop.
'I cannot stop!' Haxhiaj yelled at the officer.
Clara Moura, who can be seen being held back by disqualified School Committee candidate Ashley Spring, reached out to the vehicle and said no multiple times. Hanlon responded by saying ICE would explain.
Haxhiaj and Spring yelled that the agents wouldn't explain, with Spring telling Hanlon that ICE didn't 'not have a judicial warrant.'
At around 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the footage, an ICE officer said, 'We do not need a judicial warrant for this arrest.'
Body camera footage worn by Officer Juan Vallejo showed Ferreira-De Oliveira's teenage daughter running 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 yelled, '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.'
Ashley Spring was also arrested on Eureka Street after they sprayed water in an officer's face.
The Worcester Police Department wrote in a report that officers saw Spring directly pointing and spraying an 'unknown liquid in a bottle at officers'—even though Spring and an officer both say on video that the liquid was water.
Spring was charged on May 9 with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — the 'unknown liquid' — along with charges of assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct and interfering with police officers.
Lt. Sean Murtha previously told MassLive that he was not aware of the department dropping any of Spring's charges.
On June 4, District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj was charged with two crimes for her actions on Eureka Street.
The councilor was charged with a misdemeanor count of assault and battery on a police officer and a common law violation of interfering with a police officer, records show.
The criminal complaint filings accuse Haxhiaj of pushing an officer in the chest and pulling the officer's arm as they were making an arrest.
Haxhiaj responded to the charges on BlueSky, calling the prosecution frustrating and defending her actions.
'I am a mother, an immigrant and elected leader who attempted, along with other Worcester residents, to protect a traumatized young person, two mothers and an infant,' Haxhiaj said. 'I did the humane thing to do in this situation, nothing more, nothing less.'
On May 16, eight days after the arrest, City Manager Eric D. Batista's administration released body camera footage of officers who were at Eureka Street. The City Manager also announced an executive order on how the Worcester Police Department responds to federal arrests.
'Enforcement of immigration laws is within the jurisdiction of the federal government, not the municipality and as such, municipal resources shall not be used toward that end,' according to a city statement.'The municipality and the WPD are committed to promoting safety in the community regardless of immigration status.'
Protests against ICE and the Worcester Police Department have taken place in the wake of the arrest on Eureka Street.
On May 13, a protest took place outside of City Hall, which was locked from the inside. Protesters accused the Worcester Police Department of assisting with ICE and demanded that federal immigration officials leave Worcester.
Members of the crowd originally planned to speak out against ICE and the Worcester Police Department during the May 13 city council meeting at City Hall but the meeting was changed from an in-person format to a virtual format the day before.
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said city officials received 'threats of violence" and that the move to a virtual format was done to ensure people's safety.
Nevertheless, people still attended the virtual meeting—lashing out against the council, the Worcester Police Department and Batista's administration.
'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.'
On June 10, an in-person city council meeting was shut down by anti-ICE protesters.
During the meeting's public comment period, the protesters marched into the city council chambers—holding up signs and chanting 'ICE out of Worcester now."
Read more: Shadow of ICE arrest hangs over Worcester 'State of the City' speech
A person was arrested in connection with the canceled meeting, City Manager Eric Batista announced Wednesday night.
'The municipality has a longstanding policy regarding the use of City Hall, which precludes protests, rallies, and demonstrations from taking place inside the building," Batista said in a statement. 'While this policy has not previously been widely distributed, we are making it publicly available and notifying the public that it will be strictly enforced. Any person found in non-compliance with the policy is subject to ejection and subject to arrest or other violations.'
Even though he shares the public's frustrations about 'what is happening at the national level ... we cannot allow that to divide us,' Batista said in his statement. 'Instead, we must find real ways to collectively support one another and those impacted while continuing to focus on the core services that municipal government is responsible for.'
None of the items on the city council's meeting agenda for that night were discussed.
'Unfortunately, we were unable to do the people's business tonight — we had over 40 items on the agenda, and there were people in the audience who wished to speak on items that were important to them, but could not,' Mayor Joseph Petty said in a previous statement.
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