LYNN — A Lynn man was released from ICE custody Monday afternoon, following an hourlong standoff between community members and ICE agents.
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Robelio Gonzalez, a Guatemalan immigrant and active member of the Lynn community, was apprehended by several ICE agents in front of his apartment at 5 Lloyd St. shortly after noon and placed in an unmarked black van as his daughter watched.
ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, tasked with enforcing federal statutes on illegal immigration, presumably detained Gonzalez due to issues relating to his immigration status.
As ICE agents waited for another family member to arrive to take care of Gonzalez’s underage daughter, his wife contacted Celly De La Cruz and Isaac Simon Hodes of Lynn United For Change, with whom they had worked with in the past.
De La Cruz and Hodes assembled a group of about 40 community members who surrounded the van to prevent it from leaving. As the crowd grew, community members gave speeches and sang songs in support of Gonzalez.
“Where’s his daughter gonna go when you break up a family?” said Alan Iraheta, a construction worker who lives in the neighborhood. “What’s gonna happen to her tomorrow?”
“Enough is enough,” said Hodes to the crowd. “We’re not going to let you divide us.”
Across the street from the ICE vehicle, two middle-aged men heckled the protest, shouting “Blue Lives Matter” and, somewhat ironically, “All Lives Matter.”
“People think that, since we’re a diverse community, hate can’t survive. This shows how that isn’t true,” said Kimyen, a Lynn resident, of the counter-protesters.
As the ICE van’s engine started at 1:23 p.m., members of the crowd moved towards it, sitting or lying in the street to block its path.
Lynn Police were present at the scene to serve as crowd control.
“ICE informed us they were going there, as they always do,” said Lynn Police Lt. Michael Kmiec. “A crowd formed and we were dispatched in response.”
Davia Moore, a teacher at the Marshall School, who was present at the protest discussed the effect that ICE activity had on the students.
“A lot of these students grow up in perpetual trauma,” she said. “They’re afraid.”
At 1:50 p.m. Gonzalez was allowed to leave the vehicle. He hugged his daughter and waved to the crowd, smiling in relief.
“Thank you very much and God bless all of you,” he said through a Spanish interpreter. “I have no words to express what I feel here today.”
De La Cruz cited the growing crowd and the support of the community as the reason for Robelio’s release.
Gonzalez is required to show up to an immigration appointment at the ICE office in Burlington. ICE officials could not be reached for comment on the incident.
Lynn United For Change is in the process of getting Gonzalez in touch with an immigration attorney to work on his case.
