City Council condemns racist and predatory tactics of ICE in Boston

On Tuesday, October 6, 2020, Bena Apreala was stopped while jogging on the VFW Parkway by three men in two unmarked SUVs with tinted windows, who questioned Apreala about his identity and his citizenship. Apreala, a Boston native, was illegally stopped because he fit a description.

While elected officials from the municipal to the federal level have called out this incident as racist and immoral, the Council recognizes that there is more work to be done to prevent these instances from ever occurring again. This week, the Council voted to adopt a resolution condemning the racist and predatory tactics used by ICE in Boston.

You can hear the Councilors’ discussion around the unfortunate incident that occurred with Apreala, including remarks from Councilor O’Malley, who went on a jog with Apreala.

Boston is a majority person-of-color (POC) City, where 28 percent of the population is foreign-born, and the Council believes that as leaders they have a moral obligation to act and legislate in a way that protects the interests and the safety of the City’s constituency.