Having seen footage and heard reports of ICE raids in recent weeks and months, residents wondered what was up Tuesday morning when they saw Wellesley police and unmarked vehicles pulling over landscaping trucks in Wellesley Hills.
We received several separate messages from readers on Tuesday about what they had seen, including the pullover of what were described as a construction truck and landscaping truck across from the Hills Library, with multiple police cars seen in the church parking lot across the street. Another person reported seeing a landscaping truck pulled over in the Cliff Estates area, with a man in handcuffs, and police cars in front and behind the truck. “A fancy unmarked truck with blue and red flashing lights joined the scene” as well. Another resident reported seeing 5 Wellesley police cruisers at the corner of Bristol and Sagamore Roads, with officers talking to a landscaper.
“The neighborhood is rife with rumors about an ICE raid,” we were told.
(I personally saw a police car, with lights flashing, pursue a landscaping vehicle on Oak Street in Natick Tuesday morning.)
We reached out to the Wellesley Police and Lt. Marie Cleary told us that the department “has been working with the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit ‘Truck Team’ from the State Police conducting commercial enforcement on Route 16/Washington St. in a truck exclusion zone. My understanding is there have been a few trucks towed due to being placed out of service for various reasons-all motor vehicle related.” The police have had complaints about trucks being in the no-truck zone, Cleary said.
“We have no knowledge of any ICE officials being in town,” she added. “They would not likely notify us ahead of time if they planned on conducting civil immigration enforcement in Wellesley. We do not have anything to do with civil immigration enforcement—we have no authority in this area… Our only response would be if we were called to a scene, would be to keep the peace .”
School communications
Separately, Wellesley Public Schools has communicated with its community regarding how changes to federal immigration policies might affect members of that community.
Last week, “following concerns about immigration enforcement activities in our area,” WPS referred people to Know Your Rights guidance from the Office of the Attorney General.
In January, Supt. Dr. David Lussier issued a memo highlighting protections for members of the school community in light of federal immigration policy enforcement initiatives:
We do not ask for students’ immigration records as part of our registration and enrollment process; in fact Massachusetts law does not permit us to do so.
We do not coordinate with federal agencies related to immigration matters, nor do we allow federal agents to access WPS facilities under any circumstances without a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge.
We do not share student records or other personal information with federal agents, except in rare instances when a court order or parental/guardian consent is provided.
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