Plymouth public school bus #8 was stopped on Standish Avenue, at the intersection of Cherry Street, shortly before 8 a.m. Tuesday when the middle school students aboard it got an eyewitness view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ aggressive tactics. As the children looked on, they watched ICE officials pull a distraught man out of his car.
The students, who were bound for Plymouth Community Intermediate School, were left aghast, as was the bus driver.
“The bus driver initially described the scene as looking like a possible abduction, as the individual being taken into custody was visibly emotional and distressed,” Brian Palladino, principal of PCIS, wrote in an email to parents later Tuesday morning. “This understandably caused concern and confusion for students on the bus who witnessed the incident.”
Four vehicles were stopped in the middle of the intersection, said a witness, who asked not to be identified, citing fear of reprisal. She said ICE agents took the man from his vehicle and left it in the middle of the road.
“They left the car parked in the middle of the street, right at the intersection” said a North Plymouth resident who saw video of the detention but who also asked not to be identified, citing fear of reprisal. She said one of the officers had the letters ERO on his tactical vest. The acronym stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations.
She said three agents, driving separate vehicles, took part in the detention of the man, whose identity is not known.
Plymouth Police Chief Dana Flynn told the Independent that the department received a call for a car left in the roadway. When an officer arrived, he found the car in the middle of Standish Avenue with its hazard lights on. Shortly afterward, an ICE agent who had the keys to the car returned to move it.
Casey Kennedy, the Town of Plymouth’s communications coordinator, said in an email that officials were “aware of the incident…and the Plymouth Police Department continues to communicate with federal ICE agents to the best of their ability.”
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The agency’s enforcement operations in North Plymouth began in May and appear to have become more frequent in recent days. The witness estimated that some 20 people in North Plymouth have been detained by ICE in the last two weeks.
Palladino said school administrators and counselors met with the students who saw the incident.
“We recognize that witnessing or hearing about such an event can be difficult, especially for middle schoolers who are still developing the tools to process complex and emotional situations,” he said in his email. “We are committed to providing a safe, supportive environment where students feel seen, heard, and cared for.”
Palladino told the Independent that once the students arrived at PCIS, they were taken to the school’s theater where they were allowed to contact their families, as well as meet with a counselor.
“Particularly the [English as a Second Language] kids, [we were] making sure that the parents knew that they were here and they were safe,” Palladino said. “We had a lot of kids that were directly affected by this, and they were with the counselors for a while.”
Palladino said that the families of some PCIS students live in fear because of their immigration status.
“What that does to a bus full of middle school students, it’s not fair to our kids,” he said.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org