Rep. Ayanna Pressley Slams ICE Over Detention of 13-Year-Old Everett Boy and Shipping Him Out of State
Written by b87fm on 10/17/2025
Rep. Ayanna Pressley is calling out U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the agency detained a 13-year-old Everett boy and transferred him to a Virginia facility without notifying his family, legal counsel, or the courts.
Pressley blasted the agency’s handling of the case, describing it as a clear example of “criminalizing youth instead of investing in the supports that keep communities safe.”
According to her statement, the 7th grader — who was recovering from a broken foot — endured inhumane conditions, including inadequate nutrition and sleeping on a concrete floor with only an aluminum blanket. Pressley is demanding immediate action:
“No child should be snatched from their home and isolated from loved ones without oversight.”
This isn’t the first time the Massachusetts congresswoman has taken on the system. Earlier this year, Pressley visited a Louisiana detention center to meet with her constituent Rümeysa Öztürk, whom she said was being held under “retaliatory and unjust” conditions. She has also opposed Republican-led legislation that would allow children as young as 14 to be tried in adult courts, pushing instead for trauma-informed, community-based safety programs.
Pressley continues to champion her People’s Justice Guarantee, a decarceration resolution aimed at ending the prosecution of minors in adult courts and preventing youth from being placed in adult facilities. Her vision focuses on rehabilitation in supportive environments closer to home — not incarceration.
The congresswoman is also leading efforts to shield vulnerable communities from economic harm. Alongside Senator Elizabeth Warren and 70 members of Congress, she’s warning of a looming “default cliff” that could send millions of student loan borrowers into financial crisis.
Pressley is urging the administration to clear the backlog of repayment applications, halt punitive collections, provide interest-free protections for struggling borrowers, and increase outreach to at-risk families.
For Pressley, the issue is bigger than policy:
“Economic justice is racial justice,” she has said. “Protecting working families from mass default is a moral imperative.”
