The Department of Homeland Security is denying claims that a woman arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Worcester has been treated poorly in detainment.
ICE agents arrested Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira, a Brazilian mother of three, on Worcester’s Eureka Street on May 8. She is being detained at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island.
Ferreira-De Oliveira’s lawyer, Paul Toland, told MassLive on Thursday that ICE agents had injured his client’s shoulder during the arrest and she has not been provided pain medication.
A statement from a senior DHS member received on Friday, however, disputes Toland’s claims.
“The allegations about Rosane Ferreira-De Oliveira’s treatment in detainment are unequivocally false,” the statement reads. “ICE has provided Ferreira with prompt medical care and services, and she has not filed any grievances or complaints regarding delayed medical care.”
The statement went on to say that it is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment when someone enters ICE custody.
“This includes medical, dental and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care,” the statement reads.
In a statement provided to Spectrum News 1, the DHS claimed that Ferreira-De Oliveira entered the country illegally in August 2022, which led to ICE custody.
Toland told MassLive, however, that the mother of three was paroled and allowed into the country by ICE as she pursued asylum.
“When someone is paroled into the United States, that means they are allowed to enter and stay in the U.S. temporarily, even if they don’t have a visa or formal admission,” Toland said. “It’s not a legal entry in the same way as someone who comes in on a visa or green card, but it still allows a person to be here lawfully for a specific period and purpose.”
Ferreira-De Oliveira pursued an asylum claim, he said. Once the claim was submitted to the immigration court, the mother was allowed to stay here indefinitely until the asylum application was approved or denied, he added.
“In order to become an asylee, an immigration judge would have to hear the merits of the case and make a determination to approve to deny the claim after an individual hearing,” Toland said. “You can only apply for asylum at a port of entry or while inside the country.”
Toland said he would not further speak about Ferreira-De Oliveira‘s asylum claim due to privacy concerns.
DHS has also called the mother a “violent criminal illegal alien,” according to a statement provided to WHDH.
“She was arrested by local police for assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery on a pregnant victim,” according to the statement.
Court records obtained by MassLive show that Ferreira-De Oliveira was suspected of using a phone-charging cable to strike a pregnant relative in February.
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 pretrial hearing on March 24.
Last Tuesday, Judge Zachary Hillman scheduled Ferreira-De Oliveira‘s trial date for July 18, according to court filings.
May 8: the Eureka Street arrest
On the morning of May 8, Eureka Street erupted into screams, chants and yelling as ICE agents apprehended Ferreira-De Oliveira.
More than 30 people gathered on Eureka Street, including District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj and disqualified School Committee candidate Ashley Spring. Some of the people confronted the agents, demanding they show a judicial warrant, while other people in the crowd chanted, “Don’t take the mother.”
Also at the scene of the arrest were two of Ferreira-De Oliveira’s daughters, a 17-year-old and a 21-year-old named Augusta Clara Moura.
After 11 a.m., Worcester Police Officers arrived on the scene, telling the crowd over loudspeakers that they were participating in an unlawful assembly.
The police also made two arrests on Eureka Street that day: Ferreira-De Oliveira’s 17-year-old daughter and Spring.
Police present at the scene said that they were called to maintain the peace.
Body camera footage and 911 calls related to the Eureka Street arrest were released by the city on May 16 after pressure from the public, including a rally during which residents accused Worcester officials of assisting ICE in arresting Ferreira-De Oliveira.
The footage and recording of the 911 calls were posted on the city’s YouTube page.
The video and audio are taken from body cameras worn by officers Juan Vallejo, Patrick Hanlon and Shauna McGuirk.
Officer Hanlon’s footage shows District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj walking toward the officers and Ferreira-De Oliveira. Haxhiaj grabbed Ferreira-De Oliveira’s arm and pleaded with the agents not to take her. Two of the ICE agents then proceeded to fling the councilor off Ferreira-De Oliveira.
As the agents moved to a gold Ford SUV, Haxhiaj then reached out for Ferreira-De Oliveira. Hanlon grabs her hands to pull her back and tells her to stop.
“I cannot stop!” Haxhiaj yelled at the officer.
Clara Moura, who was being held back by Spring, reached out to the vehicle and said, “No” multiple times. Hanlon responded by saying that ICE would offer an explanation.
Haxhiaj and Spring yelled that the agents would not explain, with Spring telling Hanlon that ICE does “not have a judicial warrant.”
At around 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the video, an ICE officer says, “We do not need a judicial warrant for this arrest.”
Body camera footage from Hanlon and Officer Juan Vallejo shows 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 camera’s shakiness 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.”
Police officers saw Spring push and shove other officers trying to arrest the daughter, according to a police report.
“Officers also observed Ashley directly point at and spray an unknown liquid in a bottle at officers that were on duty attempting to conduct their job,” the report read.
It turns out, however, that the “unknown” liquid was water.
At the 2:30 mark in the video, Vallejo approaches Spring and points his finger at her, listing charges for another officer: “Disorderly, disturbance and she sprayed me in the face with water.”
As he moveed away from her, the audio catches Spring saying, “It was water.”
Spring was charged on May 9 with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — that being the “unknown liquid” — along with charges of assault and battery on a police officer, disorderly conduct and interfering with police officers.
Lt. Sean Murtha of the Worcester Police Department told MassLive on May 17 that he was not aware of the department dropping any of Spring’s charges despite police saying the liquid was water in the video.
The daughter, meanwhile, was charged with reckless endangerment of a child, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to the Worcester Police Department.
After her arrest, she was released from custody and is staying with family friends along with her 21-year-old sister, Clara Moura, Clara Moura’s 3-month-old son and her other sister, who is also a minor.
In a statement on May 16, Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier announced that the Worcester Police Department is requesting that the court dismiss the case against Ferreira-De Oliveira’s daughter.
Even though the department wishes to have the case against the daughter dismissed, Saucier noted, “It is important to emphasize that assaulting or interfering with law enforcement officers as they carry out their duties is never acceptable.”
The fallout
What happened on Eureka Street has left some Worcester residents outraged over the city’s response.
During a rally on May 13, many protesters accused the Worcester Police Department of collaborating with ICE. The protest was held outside of City Hall, which was locked that evening.
Protesters had planned to attend the city council meeting that was to be held inside the building, but it was announced the day before that it would be moved to a virtual format.
During the meeting, Mayor Joseph Petty explained that the switch from an in-person to virtual-only meeting was made due to city officials receiving “threats of violence.”
Those who did attend the virtual meeting lashed out at the council.
“There are two explanations for this,” Marcus Palumbo of Clark University said at the meeting. “Either you, the council, have completely lost control over the police department, or you are actively complicit in their actions.“
On May 16, City Manager Eric D. Batista issued an executive order to establish “guidelines for local response and involvement in federal enforcement of immigration laws and operations, including investigations and civil detainments performed by ICE officers,” according to a statement from Batista’s office.
“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,” the city statement continued. “The municipality and the WPD are committed to promoting safety in the community regardless of immigration status.”
On May 21, Batista was faced with disruptions from protesters during his State of the City Address, one carried a sign with a doctored image of Batista wearing an ICE vest, and another played audio from the arrest on repeat.
Councilor Haxhiaj has received both praise and scorn for her actions on Eureka Street. Councilor-at-Large and Council Vice Chair Khrystian King said she “rose to the moment.”
“She acted urgently to defend a fellow mother, a woman in crisis, a young teen girl, and constituents she was elected to serve,” King wrote. “In doing so, she stood up against a system that has too often trampled due process and constitutional rights — especially under the Trump administration. That’s not grandstanding. That’s moral leadership.”
The New England Police Benevolent Association Local 911 and the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 504, however, released two statements on May 9 and May 10, respectively, both blasting Haxhiaj for “physically interfering and physically assaulting” Worcester police officers.
“We stand with our fellow Worcester Police Patrol Officers Union Local 911 and demand an ethics investigation into the egregious actions and behavior of Councilor Haxhiaj,” the letter from Local 504 reads.
Three city councilors have made statements since the body camera footage was released.
“The footage released today confirms this: Worcester Police officers did not aid ICE in any detainment,” said District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson. “Instead, they responded with professionalism, compassion and restraint in a complex and challenging situation.”
Councilor-at-Large and Public Safety Committee Chair Kathleen Toomey criticized the protesters who confronted the ICE agents, claiming that they “crossed a line” and did little to help the mother’s two daughters at the scene.
“The videos I saw reinforced for me that had the protesters stayed on the sidewalk and not interfered with federal officers, we would be in a very different space,” Toomey said. “However, they exacerbated the situation, and instead of focusing their efforts [on] supporting the daughters of the woman apprehended, they crossed the line by obstructing and physically assaulting both ICE and WPD officers, which is unacceptable.”
Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen, however, wrote an Instagram post on Sunday saying they could not believe the city administration and the Worcester Police Department’s recounting of the events on Eureka Street. They also demanded the release of all police incident reports.
“We will not stop holding WPD accountable,” Nguyen wrote. “We must abolish ICE.”
