Federal immigration officials have launched a new surge of enforcement in Massachusetts, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Sunday.
The department did not say how long the increased ICE activity would last. In May, ICE reported nearly 1,500 arrests in “Operation Patriot,” a month-long crackdown, WBUR reported.
The latest surge is being called “Patriot 2.0.”
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, nowhere is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens,” a DHS spokesperson said. “If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”
Jillian Phillips, a volunteer with LUCE, a group that runs a hotline to report ICE sightings, said the state is “100%” in the middle of a new surge.
“From the Boston area out to western Mass., we are seeing a lot of early morning activity and we are seeing a lot of larger groups of agents,” she said. “So we just encourage folks to continue to stay aware, to stay vigilant, to know their rights.”
