Husband, attorney of Canton mom recount trauma of ICE detainment

Consistent with President Trump’s campaign promises of mass deportation of people who crossed the U.S. border illegally, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been ramping up efforts for several months to locate and detain undocumented residents. Often using the pejorative descriptor “illegal aliens,” Trump and other government officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, have painted such residents as dangerous criminals threatening the welfare of Americans. Accordingly, numerous people have been subjected to strong-arm tactics by black-clothed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who are often masked and typically without any identifying insignia.

Jemmy Jimenez-Rosa with her husband, Marcel Rosa

Some undocumented residents have engaged in criminal activity, including violent assaults, but the problem has been exaggerated. (Studies have established that immigrants commit fewer crimes than citizens, not more.) Furthermore, the speed and manner of ICE operations seems to have promoted not only ruthless mistreatment but egregious errors. Citizens have been taken into custody, and some people have been detained solely on account of assumptions about tattoos or ethnicity. Too often, there has been minimal regard for accuracy or procedural legality; two recent high profile Massachusetts cases are Milford High School student Marcelo Gomes da Silva and Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk.

Now this kind of abuse has ensnared a seven-year Canton resident, Jemmy Jimenez-Rosa. She has been freed, but her ordeal, which lasted nine days, left her, in the words of her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, “traumatized [and] shattered.” The word “traumatic” has become common enough to reduce some of its former impact, but details of Rosa’s experience show clearly that she was subjected to severe emotional stress from both neglect and outright cruelty.

Her nightmare began without warning at Logan Airport on August 11, when Jimenez-Rosa, her husband, Marcel Rosa, and their three young daughters were returning in the early evening from a family reunion in Mexico. At the U.S. Customs checkpoint, the family showed their passports and boarding passes. Jimenez-Rosa, 42, who was born in Peru and came to this country with her parents at age 9, carries a Peruvian passport and a Green Card. Rosa, born in Boston, has an American passport, as do the children.

Despite having traveled many times previously with no problem, Jimenez-Rosa was pulled aside without explanation. At first, her family was allowed to stay with her, but then she was asked to go in a separate room alone. On rejoining her shortly afterward, Rosa said he noticed an immediate change.

“My wife was sitting — her whole spirit had sunk into the chair, and I just knew she wasn’t getting out,” he said.

Rosa tried to address any concerns the agent had by pointing out that her Green Card had recently been reissued without questions and suggesting that any irregularities be addressed through an office appointment later rather than a detainment, which could jeopardize her serious health issues, including diabetes. Nothing worked; the agent was unsympathetic. “I just really think he had bad intentions,” noted Rosa.

Normally, holders of Green Cards have been able to travel internationally without fear of roadblocks on their return. (Green Cards, which represent a step toward citizenship, carry certain rights and responsibilities and signify lawful, permanent residency; historically, they were green-ish.)

Created by President George W. Bush in 2002 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Department of Homeland Security has attracted controversy from its early days, but criticism has escalated since Trump’s second inauguration. Many cite the wide discretion given to ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers to bypass normal Fourth Amendment expectations of protections against search and seizure. Border (or “functional border” — such as at an airport, which processes international travelers — searches can be conducted without a warrant, probable cause or even reasonable suspicion.

Fearful and mystified about what might happen next, the family had no choice but to leave, as Rosa immediately started working to secure his wife’s release. Within 24 hours, he filed a federal lawsuit against ICE. Knowing that people in detainment can be moved anywhere at any time, he started days of making calls to track Jimenez-Rosa’s location. Neither he nor anyone else met with success — not friends or family members or Pomerleau. Her name never appeared on the searchable database. Once, on a late-night call, Rosa got through to a male supervisor who had been present when Jimenez-Rosa was detained. Rosa expressed his fears for his wife’s health, but the man would neither confirm nor deny anything about her location or status, giving only the chilling response, “We will notify next of kin when she dies.”

The high degree of tension and stress threatened Rosa’s own health as well. Describing how he felt sick enough over the nine days to seriously consider going to the hospital, he said, “I’m surprised I didn’t get a heart attack.” He didn’t go because he didn’t dare risk missing an important call. His children suffered, too, crying every day their mother was gone.

On Tuesday, he did get a brief call from Jimenez-Rosa. She had been taken to a hospital and was handcuffed to the bed but able to make the call using a nurse’s personal cell phone — but an agent abruptly stopped the call. Later, Rosa heard from a doctor, who explained that his wife’s blood pressure had risen. She was released, only to return to the emergency room the following day, with even higher blood pressure, having been given only anti-anxiety medication in detention. Rosa was never informed.

Jimenez-Rosa was transferred to detention facilities at the DHS ICE Boston Field Office in Burlington, where on Friday, she was able to get her first shower. Later she was transferred to the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, Maine. Never was she given any information about why she was detained, let alone officially charged with anything — a violation of immigrant law.

Conditions at the jail were poor, according to Marcel Rosa. Besides being overcrowded with prisoners, his wife’s cell had leaks; she could hear rats in the walls. Menstrual products were not available, and sleep was minimal, as guards frequently banged on doors, which Rosa felt was “all by design to cause mental torment.” There were also no translators available for inmates who spoke little English, so Jimenez-Rosa was able to help Spanish speakers.

Finally, on Wednesday, August 20, Pomerleau was notified that Jimenez-Rosa was possibly en route back to Burlington, where she would be released. Driving from Boston through rush-hour traffic, he learned that she had been dropped off to make her way in the pouring rain to the Cheesecake Factory, about three-quarters of a mile away, where she was able to borrow a cell phone to make a call. By the time Pomerleau picked her up, he said her stress, fatigue, and limited food and water left her “barely able to stand.”

The reason for the torturous detention remains a mystery. Jimenez-Rosa got in trouble with the law in 2003 as a 20-year-old college student for possessing a small quantity of marijuana, to which she pleaded guilty. However, recreational use of marijuana was legalized in Massachusetts in 2016 by ballot initiative, and Governor Healey pardoned marijuana possession convictions in 2024, sealing the record. Pomerleau, a Boston-based immigration attorney, speculated that Jimenez-Rosa could have been picked up just to achieve a number quota. Rosa said that the timing of his wife’s release may have been strategic, noting that it came one day before a response to the lawsuit would have been required.

Whatever the reason, Rosa said he would recommend that no one with a Green Card risk traveling. “Just lose the ticket money — it’s not worth it,” he said, adding that the whole experience was a “nightmare.” He is also very cautious about his children’s safety, preferring that they not be named and that no publications show their faces.

What the future holds for Jimenez-Rosa as far as her legal situation and emotional health is anyone’s guess. Rosa said he and the children are better although “not normal,” but at least they have stopped crying. He worries that his wife may be “scarred for life.” Perhaps a return to regular life, including work as a dental insurance coordinator and getting her 6- and 7-year-old daughters ready to return to Luce Elementary School could bring some relief. (Her youngest daughter attends daycare; Jimenez-Rosa also has an 18-year-old son living in Brookline.) Some stresses will be hard to overcome, including smaller ones, like sadness at missing her 6-year-old’s birthday during her detention.

Rosa said he is grateful for help from family members in the area and from local residents and organizations that have followed his wife’s case and helped to rally support. Pomerleau and his staff dedicated themselves to helping Jimenez-Rosa and others navigate as best they could but have been stretched to the limit of cost and hours available for pro bono projects. “Every case takes so much work,” noted Pomerleau.

Pomerleau and Rosa both expressed gratitude to state Senator Paul Feeney for his efforts to help. Rosa said that U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch was also very helpful. U.S. senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren also got involved.

Working daily on cases like these, Pomerleau clearly is deeply affected by them. He referred to Jimenez-Rosa’s situation, saying, “I haven’t seen anything like it,” while using phrases like “draconian” and “an absolute tragedy.”

To contribute to “Justice for Jemmy,” a GoFundMe page, go to www.gofundme.com/f/emergency-aid-for-detained-mom-of-4.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=132207

Posted by Candace Paris on Aug 29 2025. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.