Mayor Mitchell addresses possibility of immigration raids in New Bedford

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — Days after President Trump took office, federal immigration officers took several people into custody in Boston and Chelsea.

“I wouldn’t describe them as raids,” Gov. Maura Healey said. “It seems to me is what we expected and what I support, which is the apprehension of criminals in our communities.”

The arrests left some residents wondering if their community might be next.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell addressed those concerns Friday in a one-on-one interview with ABC6, saying he hadn’t heard any direct communication about federal raids.

“We haven’t and we wouldn’t,” Mitchell said. “When something like that happens, usually the police department is given the heads up right at the last moments, so there’s no conflicting activity between law enforcement agencies.”

New Bedford is no stranger to immigration raids, as roughly 18 years ago federal agents descended upon the Michael Bianco plant, arresting 350 people living in the country illegally.

“These things have happened here before,” Mitchell said. “We don’t have a workplace quite like the Michael Bianco factory back in 2007, but all that said we have lots of immigrants in this city and many of them do work in factories and fish-houses and such, so we’re mindful of the possibility there could be an immigration raid there.”

In the case of a raid, Mitchell expressed that the city plans to cooperate fully with federal law enforcement.

“There’s lot of people on edge in the city as a result of that, knowing that possibility,” Mitchell said. “I’m here to say we’re going to comply with the law.”

“I think everybody can agree that if somebody has been convicted of a felony in the U.S. and that person is not a U.S. Citizen that person should be deported,” he added.

That being said, the mayor expressed skepticism about the intentions behind some of the larger-scale arrests.

“These indiscriminate raids, I think sometimes it’s hard not to look at them and say they’re not for show,” Mitchell said.

“The rhetoric around this is so heated, what’s really happening when you get right down to it is actions that are consistent with federal law as it exists,” he continued. “But the politics of it are so charged at this point that I think sometimes people lose sight of that.”

Mitchell said that while it’s important for local and federal law enforcement to maintain open communication, New Bedford police officers will not be actively participating in any raids.

“Our job here with respect to federal law enforcement is to share information,” Mitchell said. “We’re not going to withhold information from federal law enforcement. As a former federal prosecutor I can tell you that bad things happen when law enforcement agencies withhold information from one another.”