Congresswoman has been a Consistent Advocate for Immigrant Families Unlawfully Targeted by ICE, Spoken Out Against Criminalization of Children

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley issued the following statement condemning U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) arrest of a 13-year-old boy from Everett and his transfer to a detention center in Virginia. Congresswoman Pressley has been a dedicated advocate for immigrant families unlawfully targeted by ICE and has spoken out against policies that criminalize children instead of investing in community-based supports that keep people safe.

“It is absolutely alarming that the Trump Administration and its rogue ICE agents would abduct a 13-year-old child, transport him to a facility over 500 miles away without his family, lawyer or a court knowing, and reportedly subject him to harrowing, inhumane conditions, including inadequate nutrition and sleeping on a concrete floor with an aluminum blanket while still healing from a broken foot.

“He is a 7th-grader who should have been met with compassion and care, not criminalized and sent to an adult prison.

“The Trump Administration must stop violating the constitutional rights of our constituents. I join the chorus of community voices demanding basic adherence to due process, preservation of this child’s constitutional rights, and his immediate return to his family.”

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Pressley traveled to a detention center in Louisiana to meet with her constituent Rümeysa Öztürk, who was being unlawfully detained and subjected to inhumane conditions in retaliation for her protected speech.

Last month, Congresswoman Pressley spoke out against a Republican-led bill that would authorize children as young as 14 to be tried as adults in the criminal legal system and instead urged Republicans to support community-based, trauma-informed public safety solutions. She later slammed Trump and Republicans for pushing punitive, fear-based policies instead of investing in community violence intervention programs.

Congresswoman Pressley has also championed the People’s Justice Guarantee, her comprehensive, decarceration-focused resolution that outlines a framework for a fair, equitable and just legal system, including banning the prosecution of children under the age of 18 in adult courts and ensuring juveniles are not housed in adult prisons but in community- or home-based rehabilitation programs.

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