Federal agencies have not provided the state with more information about immigration arrests that took place on Martha’s Vineyard in May despite repeated demands, Gov. Maura Healey said during a visit to the Island this week.

After touring a new housing development along Edgartown Vineyard Haven Road on Monday, Governor Healey said the arrests of about 40 people on the Vineyard and Nantucket by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), some just down the road from where she was standing, were especially concerning due to the lack of transparency. 

“They’re not giving us any information,” the governor said. “That’s part of the frustration that I have because as a matter of public safety, we’d like to know what’s actually going on in our communities.”

The governor said she has asked for the identity of those arrested, the circumstances under which they were arrested and where they are located. The Gazette has also requested details on the arrests, but has received few answers from ICE. 

ICE conducted several traffic stops with the help of the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration while on the Island last month. In a statement released in the evening of May 27, ICE alleged that it apprehended an MS-13 gang member and a child sex offender. Only one person arrested on the Vineyard, a man who was indicted on child rape charges in Dukes County Superior Court, has been publicly identified by ICE, making it difficult to verify the claims. 

When asked if she anticipates ICE returning to the Island, Governor Healey said she was in the dark.

“We’d like to know when law enforcement is coming in so that it can be organized,” she said. 

The governor stressed that Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state and said the department of corrections notifies ICE when someone in custody has an immigration detainer.

“We do work with and cooperate with ICE, so this idea that we don’t, or that Massachusetts is somehow flouting the law, is just completely inaccurate and false,” the governor said. 

Governor Healey is a former attorney general and prosecutor, and said she is interested in ensuring that those committing crimes and creating public safety threats are removed from their communities. She said many of the immigrants arrested by ICE are not criminals. 

“Unfortunately, what we are seeing is ICE engage, target and go after people who by [many] accounts have no criminal record, are hardworking people who are paying taxes [and] contributing to our economy,” she said. 

Many of the people ICE is targeting are on the path to citizenship, the governor added. She said she’s heartbroken thinking about those whose lives have been disrupted by the arrests, specifically the kids on Martha’s Vineyard. 

“I know what the immigrant population contributes to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts and always has,” the governor said. “I would like to see ICE focus on the bad guys… and for those who are living their lives, contributing to the economy and doing everything right, what I would like to see is President Trump and Congress work to get people on a path to citizenship.”