Overview
- ICE detained Juliana Milena Ojeda-Montoya during a Thursday traffic stop in Fitchburg, and she was transported to Cumberland County Jail in Scarborough, Maine, pending removal proceedings.
- Bystander video shows her husband, Carlos Sebastian Zapata, appearing to convulse while holding their child as agents tried to separate the family, with Fitchburg police later describing the crowd as hostile.
- DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said emergency responders found no legitimate medical episode and accused Zapata of faking a seizure, adding that he refused treatment.
- Zapata and witnesses told the Boston Globe he lost consciousness as agents pushed him and pressed on his neck, disputing DHS’s account of the encounter.
- The incident drew swift political reaction, with House Homeland Security Committee Democrats accusing DHS of lying, Boston-area officials including the mayor calling for advance notice of ICE operations, and a Saturday vigil planned, as intensified federal enforcement across Massachusetts and Chicago faces growing legal and civic scrutiny.