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NEW BEDFORD — A major U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement action is currently underway in the Whaling City.
A Light reporter witnessed an arrest near the waterfront this morning, and another Light reporter saw what appeared to be ICE agents in several vehicles using the Dartmouth Mall parking lot as a staging area.
The Light has identified two of the arrested men as Miguel Ixcuna-Ixcuna, 30, and Israel Sam Cajuil, 38. According to records at New Bedford District Court, Ixcuna-Ixcuna faced misdemeanor charges for operating a motor vehicle without a license in 2018 and 2024; both were dismissed. The Light has yet to check Sam Cajuil’s record.
The Light is continuing to work on identifying the others detained.
Activists have photographed one more arrest and posted on social media that at least four people were arrested in New Bedford today.
A Light reporter was at the scene at 10 a.m. as agents arrested a man in an orange hoodie on MacArthur Drive near several fish houses. In a video that the Light reporter recorded, activists from LUCE New Bedford, a network of volunteers that monitors ICE activity, can be seen recording the interaction, shouting at the detainee in Spanish to “say nothing,” and blowing whistles as agents placed the handcuffed man in a black SUV. The videos shows masked agents dressed in camouflage and bullet-proof vests emblazoned with “POLICE” and “ERO,” the acronym for Enforcement and Removal Operations, a division of ICE.
A male agent can be heard telling one of the activists, “You’re making things worse.”
“No!” an activist shouted back. “You’re making it worse! Why are you here?”
A Light reporter at the Dartmouth Mall observed a large black transit van and several people dressed like the agents on the video. They engaged in a flurry of activity around a half-dozen vehicles before leaving in a caravan around 11:30 a.m.
The vehicles were seen going toward New Bedford on Route 6 as they left the mall. The Light left a message with the general manager of the Dartmouth Mall requesting comment.
Over the following hour, LUCE New Bedford posted an image of agents apparently arresting someone on Winsor Street and of vehicles parked in an Ashley Boulevard parking lot.
New Bedford School Superintendent Andrew O’Leary told The Light that earlier in the day there were reports of agents near the Alfred J. Gomes Elementary School. He said the school followed protocols for neighborhood disturbances and there was “no further impact to school operations.”
Janet Barbosa, director of special projects and programs for the City of New Bedford, said local authorities “were not made aware” of any operation. ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As the situation developed, activists sent multiple warnings on social media in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole, advising immigrants to stay home.
This is a developing story.
Kevin G. Andrade can be contacted at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org
Nathan Collins can be contacted at ncollins@newbedfordlight.org
