“Rogue, masked federal agents are violating people’s civil rights—glorified bullies masquerading as public servants. They terrorize our communities in the name of so-called ‘law and order,’ while detaining and deporting our neighbors without due process.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) delivered a powerful speech on the House floor in defense of the vibrant immigrant communities who are being maliciously stolen from their homes, ripped from their families, and unlawfully detained and deported by the Trump Administration and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Rep. Pressley also vehemently condemned the recent ICE raid at a car wash in Allston, where rogue federal agents harassed and abducted employees, denying them their right to show their work permits. Among them were five women and a 67-year-old man who was disappeared for days without access to his medication.

A transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks is available below, and the video is available here.

Transcript: On House Floor, Pressley Offers Vigorous Defense of Immigrant Neighbors, Condemns ICE Raid on Allston Car Wash

U.S. House of Representatives

December 3, 2025

Thank you, Congresswoman Ramirez. I appreciate your leadership. 

It’s so important that we do not allow the hostile acts of this administration to be normalized. We have to condemn them, resist and reject them at every turn.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the targeted and marginalized, on behalf of our immigrant siblings who have had their bodies assaulted. 

Who have had their lives disrupted. Who have had their families separated. Who have had their humanity erased and their dignity denied.

Men, women, and children who have been ripped from our communities, thrown into cold cells, and shipped off to countries many have never known. 

The Trump administration would have you believe they are pursuing hardened criminals. 

Yet according to ICE’s own data, 85 percent of the people detained in Massachusetts—my home state—have no criminal record. 

Rogue, masked federal agents are violating people’s civil rights—glorified bullies masquerading as public servants.

They terrorize our communities in the name of so-called “law and order,” while detaining and deporting our neighbors without due process. 

That hypocrisy is not coincidence—it is a deliberate, resounding message from an administration that believes following the Constitution is a mere suggestion.

My office has documented hundreds of cases marked by excessive force, racial profiling, and the unlawful arrest of legal residents.

Just last month, rogue federal agents descended on the Allston neighborhood in the Massachusetts 7th, the diverse community that is home to small businesses and music venues that are welcoming to all. 

These federal agents targeted a local car wash to harass and abduct hardworking community members. 

Among them were five women who were never afforded the chance to show their work permits, and a 67-year-old man who was disappeared for days without access to his medication.

Families waited in anguish to hear from their loved ones, many of whom reported not having enough to eat and being unable to shower.

Cruel. Callous. Inhumane. And unlawful.

But in these trying times I am not defeated. I’m fortified and resolved to fight back.

The only way to beat a dictator is with defiance. 

Together, we will protect our communities, defend our immigrant neighbors, and their families.

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