Residents of Martha’s Vineyard are outraged after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested dozens of illegal immigrants in a recent sting. According to The Washington Post, the liberal enclave is reeling from the Trump administration’s crackdown.
“It’s bullying,” said resident Charlie Giordano. “I don’t know how many are illegal or legal, I don’t give a s---. But I do care about how they’re treated.”
The ICE raid in Martha’s Vineyard was part of a larger operation across Massachusetts in late May. Nearly 1,500 illegal immigrants were arrested statewide. Forty of those arrests happened on the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. The news has left many immigrants terrified and others furious.
“After the raid, many immigrants panicked and shuttered themselves indoors,” the Post reported. Some only agreed to speak anonymously out of fear. They described taking drastic measures to avoid detection and said the tight-knit, immigrant-friendly community was shaken.
The Post noted the irony that the arrests happened in a place known for being welcoming to all—LGBTQ+ activists, racial minorities, immigrants, and even former presidents. Barack Obama owns an oceanfront mansion on the island. “The arrests hit a nerve in a liberal enclave,” the paper said.
One anonymous Brazilian immigrant, who admitted he is undocumented and owns three businesses, warned the crackdown could devastate the local economy. “The money is just going to stop flowing. The U.S. is only losing in pushing us out,” he said.
Many of the immigrants in Martha’s Vineyard came from Brazil, often on work or tourist visas, but stayed illegally. Over the years, they’ve built cleaning and food service businesses that the community now relies on. “There are few restaurant menus here that don’t offer Brazilian-inspired options,” the Post noted.
A Brazilian woman raising three children on the island told the outlet, “The American people love us because we work so hard to help the community prosper and grow.” She added, “This was a safe place.”
Some residents say the arrests felt random and unfair. “ICE would come here to get criminals and that is good. But the way they did it now, that was not it,” said a local Brazilian pastor. The Post echoed concerns that the raid swept up “valued community members who had committed no crime.”
But ICE disputed that narrative. The agency stated that more than half of the illegal immigrants arrested in Massachusetts last month had criminal records. The crackdown comes amid continued unrest across the country, including riots in Los Angeles following ICE raids that targeted violent offenders.
Martha’s Vineyard was already a flashpoint in the immigration debate. In 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent 50 illegal immigrants to the island to spotlight the southern border crisis. That move reignited national debate—and this latest ICE operation is doing the same.