Tag: Ayanna Pressley

  • US Rep. Pressley eulogizes Emmanuel Damas who died in ICE custody, pushes rare House vote on Haiti TPS 

    US Rep. Pressley eulogizes Emmanuel Damas who died in ICE custody, pushes rare House vote on Haiti TPS 

    Massachusetts officials are calling for accountability among local and federal law enforcement in the wake of the death of Dorchester’s Emmanuel Damas in immigration custody last month.

    Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren demanded a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Damas in early March.

    Pressley addressed the House of Representatives last Thursday, March 26, to mourn the death of Damas and to call for greater accountability among law enforcement. 

    Emmanuel Damas in Dorchester, 2024. Family photo

    “There can never be true justice for Emmanuel,” Pressley said on the House floor. “In a just world, he would still be alive and home with his family. There must be accountability.” 

    Pressley started a discharge petition that was signed by a majority of House members, forcing a vote to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haiti by three years. The vote will take place in the coming weeks.

    That was a “really important and unlikely victory,” said Brian Concannon, co-founder and executive director of the human rights organization Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. “In my research, there’s never been a successful discharge petition that was generated by grassroots movements ever in history. This is particularly historic.” 

    What his family says started as a toothache turned tragic when Damas was allegedly unable to access proper and timely health care at the Florence Detention Center in Arizona. The federal Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have publicly refuted that allegation and have said Damas was taken to three medical centers for treatment.

    Damas arrived legally in Dorchester in 2024 from Haiti and was arrested Sept. 14 on a count of domestic violence, though his family refutes the legitimacy of those allegations. He died after being taken to a facility in Phoenix for a cardiothoracic workup. The Laken Riley Act required he be held pending his asylum appeal. His original asylum claim was denied in 2025, filed after he was taken into custody by ICE in Boston last September.

    The Department of Homeland Security said in a March statement that everyone in ICE custody receives medical, dental and mental health screenings within 12 hours of arriving at a detention center. 

    City Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune stood next to Emmanuel Damas’ mother (seated) during a City Hall Plaza vigil for Damas on March 18, 2026. Kelly Broder photo

    City Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune has been helping Damas’ family access legal and emotional support and helped plan his memorial services that took place Saturday, March 28. She said the family had to secure an independent autopsy for Damas themselves, as ICE did not provide a comprehensive one after his death. 

    “It’s just been an uphill battle for them,” Louijeune said. “But they have just been so incredible in using their pain — their very private pain — to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone ever again.” 

    Louijeune said she would like to see a review of the actions by the Boston Police Department as well as a federal investigation into Damas’ death. Boston and Suffolk county law enforcement arrested Damas and submitted his fingerprints at the Nashua Street Jail into a federal database, which triggered ICE to pick him up. 

    The Boston Police Department had no direct communication with ICE after Damas’ Sept. 14 arrest, said Mark Marron, a spokesperson for the department. Marron said he had no knowledge of any investigation into the actions of the department regarding Damas’ arrest. 

    Marron said all arrestees’ fingerprints are taken and submitted to the National Crime Information Center and the Automated Fingerprint Identification System. Because Damas’ arrest report includes an allegation of domestic violence, the case details are not publicly available. 

    Louijeune recommended anyone in legal trouble with ICE consult an immigration and a criminal attorney before taking action, even if it’s to bail out a family member or loved one. 

    “It’s an irredeemable institution that needs to end,” Louijeune said. “Because they’ve been acting and moving lawlessly.” 

    This story is part of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism. 

  • Tết in Boston fest ‘shows our unity as a community’

    Truman Dickerson

    For Jiachao Chen, a 15-year-old immigrant from China, the 37th annual “Tết in Boston” Lunar New Year celebration reminded him of the importance of keeping cultural traditions alive, even when you’re far from home.

    “It’s comforting because it shows people not forgetting their roots,” the Malden resident said. “It shows our unity as a community.”

    More that 6,000 people attended this year’s Tết in Boston celebration, held last Sunday in the Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center. Attendees, many of whom wore traditional Vietnamese “Ao Dai” dresses, snacked on East Asian sweets, sipped on matcha, and listened to live music in the spacious hall.

    Among the revelers was US Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who said in an interview that the event’s festivities stood in stark contrast to President Trump’s “xenophobic and anti-immigrant” rhetoric. 

    “I love that people are choosing community, and I love that people again are celebrating, or being unapologetic in their expressions of cultural pride and heritage,” the Democratic congresswoman said. “Everyone is feeling vulnerable, and it’s very important that we continue to be strong.”

    Several East Asian countries, including Vietnam, China, and Korea, use the lunar calendar for the observance of holidays. This year’s Tết in Boston was organized by the Vietnamese-American Community of Massachusetts and the New England Intercollegiate Vietnamese Student Association.

    “It’s a special time for families to connect, reunite, honor ancestors, uphold years of traditions, and prepare to bring good fortune into the home,” organizers wrote in the official Tết in Boston magazine. “The year of the Horse ignites strength, ambition, and the perseverance of hard work.”

    Theresa Tran, 30, of Dorchester, was in years past on the festival’s planning committee. This year’s gathering was the first to be held in Boston’s largest convention hall “because it’s growing so big,” she said.

    “Dorchester is a home of many Vietnamese refugees and many Vietnamese immigrants,” she said. “Coming together to celebrate the New Year is very important.”

    One of the sponsors of the festival was Boston Little Saigon, which, according to its website, aims to “highlight, recognize, and preserve” the Vietnamese “community’s significant contributions to Dorchester’s unique history of immigrant experiences.”

    Many Vietnamese people migrated to Dorchester after Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces in 1975, Tran said. The Tết in Boston festival, she noted, helps to bring out this “older generation” of Vietnamese immigrants together with immigrant communities from other parts of Massachusetts. 

    “I’ve been a part of Dorchester ever since I was a kid, because that’s where I went to Vietnamese school,” she said. “I got baptized at the church there.”

    Sally Nguyen, the co-president of Suffolk University’s Vietnamese Student Association, said the presence of several collegiate organizations at the event helps Massachusetts’ Vietnamese community. “It’s a good way for us to stay in touch with our culture and the broader community outside of our school,” the 22-year-old said.

    Dozens of East Asian small businesses set up shop in the large hall, selling food items to lines of customers. In one booth, employees pushed stalks of sugar cane into compactors. At another, about 30 people waited in line to buy Japanese matcha.

    “I really want to go downstairs and just try all the food,” said Deven Dang, 19, of Hyde Park. “But I have to stay up here and check all these people in.”

    Dang and Isabel Nguyen, both students at UMass Boston with Vietnamese heritage, wore traditional Vietnamese “Ao Dai” outfits, which translates to “long dress,” Nguyen said.

    “It’s formal. There are different styles,” said the 19-year-old Dorchester resident. “It’s really something that represents our culture and our community.”

    Dang said the festival offered a rare space to feel connected rather than fractured, saying, “Even in this country, even though it’s kind of divided as of right now, we still want to come together as a community.”

    This story is the product of a partnership between the Dorchester Reporter and the Boston University Department of Journalism.