There are growing calls to hold U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement accountable for the conditions and treatment of detainees at their main office for New England.
Residents and officials in the town of Burlington, Massachusetts, are demanding answers from ICE over the use of their office space on District Avenue.
"The Town of Burlington has recently been made aware of concerns that the facility located in Burlington, originally approved as an administrative processing center for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), may now be operating in a capacity inconsistent with the zoning approvals previously granted. Specifically, that it is being used as a detention facility," Burlington Select Board Chair Michael Espejo said in a statement last week.
Espejo said the Select Board is reviewing claims the ICE processing center is being used as detention center against their zoning code by keeping detainees in inadequate conditions for longer than a few hours, as originally intended.
Marcelo Gomes Da Silva described disturbing conditions at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Burlington as the agency continues to detain young men around his age.
Marcelo Gomes Da Silva was detained by ICE in Milford in on May 31 and spent six days at the Burlington ICE office, where he complained about the lack of medical assistance, the food quality and the overcrowded cells.
State Rep. Kenneth Gordon remembers when ICE first moved into town in 2007.
"There was some controversy back then," he said.
Gordon said ICE had always prioritized criminals, until now, as ICE targets any undocumented person they encounter to meet a 3,000-arrests-per-day quota set by the Trump administration.
"Once that became the focus, then the number of people obviously is going to increase within the net that they're casting. And that's going to overrun these facilities," Gordon said.
ICE tried to discredit Gomes Da Silva's claims on Sunday, calling them "blatant lies."
An ICE spokesperson said the teenager received three meals a day including fresh sandwiches, prompt off-site medical attention, and even thanked officers. ICE also said Reps. Seth Moulton and Jake Auchincloss had no concerns after inspecting the building right after Gomes Da Silva's release on June 5.
ICE said it couldn't move Gomes Da Silva out of the state after orders from a federal judge a day after his detention. When ICE tried to move the 18-year-old to a Plymouth detention center a few days later, the judge blocked that move as well.
Moulton vehemently disagreed: "When I went and inspected the facility, it completely aligned with Marcelo's description."
"Someone needs to go into that facility to see what they're doing," said Burlington resident Patricia O'Brien.
O'Brien applauded the town's move and it would like to take a step further, calling for a temporary cease-and-desist order until the ICE building is fully inspected.
"I just want to make sure that that what we do in Burlington and how we live and what exists in our community aligns with what our values. And for me, that doesn't at this point," she said.
ICE has not responded to NBC10 Boston's request for comment on this story, requesting information on detention capacity and what rules it said it would abide by when moving into town.