Five undocumented immigrants were arrested in Lawrence last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They were all at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office when they were taken into custody.
Attorneys from the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyer's Association are representing two of the five arrested, one of whom is the mother of U.S. born children. Both of them were heading to scheduled interviews to obtain green cards.
According to Susan Church, who leads the organization, the arrests are having a chilling effect in the immigrant community.
"The idea that this is how we're going to get after the 'bad hombres' that the president suggested his new priorities would get after is laughable," said Church. "This is what happens when ICE does not have priorities. This is what happens when they go after everyone and anything that they can find."
