Activists and residents from across western Mass. filled Downtown Springfield on Labor Day - rallying on behalf of a man described as a father and local farm worker, who advocates say was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
There was no shortage of signs, chanting and calls for justice in Court Square Monday, Sept. 1, as close to 200 people filled part of the park – all to rally around a man many only know as “Demetrio.”
Members of the Pioneer Valley Workers Center said it was Aug. 25 when the local farm worker was dramatically detained while getting ready for a virtual court hearing.
PVWC Associate Director Ari Keigan said federal agents swarmed the vehicle that she, Demetrio and a “youth” were in at the time.
“After driving just one block from his house, three, unmarked ICE vehicles ambushed our car by almost crashing into us head-on,” she recounted.
Keigan said that, at the time, her group was heading to a spot where Demetrio could take part in the virtual hearing. That was when the vehicles allegedly appeared and six federal agents came out. One was said to have had a gun drawn and pointing at the group.
Before long, Demetrio was arrested not far from his Springfield home - his fate not immediately clear.
"Demetrio was detained before our eyes, in broad daylight,” Keigan said to those who had gathered. “It was an absolutely terrifying moment.”
'No human is illegal'
Keigan’s organization, a group devoted to advocating for immigrant workers, says Demetrio was a leader at the PVWC.
Organizers declined to provide details like his last name and nationality, with group members stressing how Demetrio, a father and hard worker, had been “doing everything right to stay in compliance with Massachusetts law.”
He was also said to have worked farms across New England and as far off as Florida over the past 15 years.
Many speakers, including Neighbor 2 Neighbor’s Simbrit Paskins, said immigrants like Demetrio are not just members of their communities, but human beings who deserve dignity, rather than detainment in an allegedly unmarked ICE vehicle.
“No human is illegal,” she said before leading a chant saying the same. “The message I have for you is not only that no human is illegal, but that every person deserves dignity, respect and care, regardless of immigration status.”
It's a matter close to the heart of Hampden State Senator Adam Gomez, who also spoke at the vigil.
Speaking with WAMC, he recalled Lucio Perez, a Guatemalan national who called Springfield home, but found himself a target for deportation during the previous Trump administration, leading to him seeking sanctuary for three years in an Amherst church.
The latest crackdown revives those anxieties, he says.
"What ICE is doing is dismantling that trust that we have been creating here in the city of Springfield since I was a city councilor, now as a state senator," he said. "I think that there's a lot more that needs to get done, and I know that the legislature is having those conversations on what we can [do], on what a piece of policy could look like, that can ... stand within court."
That includes legislation that would effectively ban local and federal law enforcement from wearing masks on duty and the proposed “Dignity, Not Deportations Act,” which looks to bar state entities from voluntarily renting beds to ICE or volunteering state resources to the agency, according to ACLU Massachusetts.
For now, solidarity goes a long way, says Neighbor 2 Neighbor’s Braxton Campbell.
"A lot of people are actually surprised that this is happening in Springfield," he told WAMC. "We were out doing some community canvassing this weekend and people are still taken aback... everybody thinks it's everywhere else but here, like, 'Oh, it's Boston,' but it's right here, in our own backyard."
Detainments continue across the state
It's not clear how many detainments have happened in western Mass. ICE announced that, in May, as many as 1,500 “illegal aliens” were arrested in Massachusetts following a “month-long operation.” The Boston Globe later reported nearly have of those detained had no criminal record.
The Associated Press reports federal crackdowns on immigrant workers are also dealing a blow to the U.S. labor force, with 1.2 million immigrants reportedly disappearing between January and July – a figure including both individuals “in the country illegally as well as legal residents.”
They’re individuals who make up a large percentage of the nation’s farming workforce, the AP reports, but as vigil attendee and Springfield’s first poet laureate Magdalena Gomez tells WAMC, those being detained by ICE should be thought of as more than a pair of hands in the fields.
"I am the daughter of an immigrant and my father came through Ellis Island - I know what he went through as an immigrant in this country back in the 1950s, and I think that we have to stop thinking of immigrants as the people who pick our fruit, but as human beings with full lives and who have skills beyond our knowing," she said after Monday's vigil. "The guy who's picking fruit may have a doctorate in his own country, and we don't know it here because nobody gave a damn to ask or they're going to make it really hard for him to get one here."
Department of Homeland Security responds
WAMC reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for more information and comment. On Thursday, Sept. 4, DHS responded to our request and also shared what appeared to be the same case on social media.
Posting “HE’S NOT A ‘FARMWORKER.’ HE’S A CRIMINAL!,” the official DHS account on X.com shared a photo of a man said to be “Demetrio Castro-Negrete,” described by the department as a “criminal illegal alien from Mexico with an extensive criminal history.”
In a statement to WAMC, a DHS official said Castro-Negrete’s apparent history featured “three DUI arrests,” “illegal possession of a firearm,” and several motor vehicle-related matters that ranged from “failure to give notice on an accident,” to “fleeing the scene” to “driving without a valid license.”
It’s not immediately clear when the incidents mentioned by DHS may have occurred, where they happened or what penalties Castro-Negrete may or may not have faced.
The department added that Castro-Negrete also “admitted to illegally crossing the southern border in 2005.”
WAMC has reached out to DHS to clarify where Castro-Negrete is currently being held. We have also reached out to the Pioneer Valley Workers Center for a response.
--
The full statement sent from a DHS official to WAMC reads:
"On August 25, 2025, ICE arrested Demetrio Castro-Negrete, a criminal illegal alien from Mexico. Castro-Negrete has an extensive criminal history including illegal possession of a firearm, three DUI arrests, failure to give notice on an accident, fleeing the scene, driving without a valid license. He admitted to illegally crossing the southern border in 2005.
"Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, if you break the law, you will face the consequences. Criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S.”
