Statement of District Attorney Rachael Rollins on Deployment of CBP Tactical Units in Neighborhoods

February 14, 2020 – “Deploying militarized units into neighborhoods creates even greater fear and disorder and significantly harms relationships that local law enforcement agencies and public officials have worked so hard to build and foster. Don’t be fooled. None of this makes us safer. This is being done to strike fear and terror throughout our immigrant communities. This is being done to be cruel and to silence and terrorize people. This is being done to limit the number of people that partake in the 2020 census.

“It’s challenging enough for any member of our community to come forward to law enforcement when they have been a victim or witness to a crime.  For our undocumented brothers and sisters, there is also a real and constant fear of deportation that prevents far too many from even considering getting involved. When individuals are too frightened to speak with police and prosecutors, to show up in court to provide testimony, to seek the protection of the law, or to have their day in court, we are all less safe.  As a result, prosecutors are unable to hold individuals accountable for serious and violent offenses, victims of violence continue to live in fear, and the services and protections afforded by our court are out of reach for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

“The outrageous actions of this President do not make our nation or our local communities safer.  I am so proud to have joined and pushed the 2019 legal action filed against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  As a result, a federal judge granted our request for a preliminary injunction barring civil arrests in the public and surrounding areas of our state courts.  Now, Massachusetts is the only state in the entire country that affords our immigrant brothers and sisters this protection, which they so rightfully deserve.”