Late on Sunday night, the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) announced its field for 2024, and the Boston College Eagles man’s basketball team found themselves invited to play against Providence College on Tuesday night.
BC made an unexpected run to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals last week, knocking off Clemson and taking Virginia to overtime, two teams that are competing in March Madness later this month. Although their performance was not nearly good enough to earn a bid to the big dance (like NC State managed to pull off), the Eagles performed well enough to earn a postseason appearance in the tournament for teams just below the full NCAA bracket. It’s Boston College’s first postseason tournament appearance since the 2017-18 season when they lost in the first round of the NIT to Western Kentucky.
Their opponent this time around is local rival Providence College. PC made a similar run to BC in their conference tournament, though with a much more impressive upset win over #8 Creighton. The Friars ended up falling to #10 Marquette in the Big East semifinal, though, and failed to qualify for the Big Dance.
PC was 21-13 overall this season, with big wins over Marquette, Wisconsin, and two wins over Creighton. They stumbled a bit towards the end of the regular season, going 1-3 in their last 4 games, but their Big East tournament victory over Creighton should silence any doubters about their ability to show up in big games.
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Boston College and Providence College will play on Tuesday March 19th at 7pm on ESPNU. The game will be held in Providence at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.
Jose Pineda, 62, a Salvadoran immigrant who has legal status in the U.S., spent two days in a Burlington ICE facility under “cruel and inhumane conditions,” his attorneys say.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent is seen in Park Ridge, Ill., Sept. 19, 2025. AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File
An East Boston father is suing ICE, alleging immigration agents unlawfully stopped, arrested, and detained him because of his race and national origin despite having his legal status, his lawyers said.
Lawyers for Civil Rights filed the lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Jose Pineda, a 62-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for more than three decades and is authorized to remain and work through humanitarian relief, the nonprofit legal organization said in a press release.
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The suit is seeking damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, and severe emotional distress.
“I came to the United States to escape the civil war that devastated El Salvador. I worked hard, started a family, and built a life here,” said Pineda, who works as a landscaper and lives with his wife and 13-year-old daughter. “I never expected to feel that kind of fear again, much less in the United States.”
According to the 30-page complaint, written by LCR senior attorneys Victoria Miranda and Mirian Albert, Pineda has been a recipient of Temporary Protected Status, which allows certain foreign nationals from designated countries to live and work legally in the U.S.
Pineda also had a pending asylum petition and had been granted a T visa, which provides immigration protections to trafficking victims, the complaint states.
“We will not stand idly by as ICE wreaks havoc on immigrant families. Through racial profiling, ICE agents are carrying out an unquestionably discriminatory agenda,” Miranda said in the release. “The law exists to protect people like Mr. Pineda, and it must be enforced against ICE.”
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The lawsuit stems from a May 2025 encounter in Weymouth, where Pineda was driving a landscaping truck to a job site when agents in unmarked ICE vehicles surrounded him, according to the complaint.
“The aggressive nature of the questioning made it clear to Mr. Pineda that he was not being judged based on any evidence of unlawful conduct, but rather on his identity, race, ethnicity, and/or national origin,” Pineda’s attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit alleges ICE officers then “forcibly” handcuffed and shackled Pineda before taking him to the agency’s field office in Burlington.
Officers searched Pineda’s belongings during the stop and again at the field office, allegedly confiscating $600 in cash that he intended to use to pay his family’s rent. The money has not been returned, according to the complaint.
Pineda spent two days in ICE custody under what the lawsuit describes as “cruel and inhumane conditions.”
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“After what ICE did to me, and after everything my family has endured, I don’t know if I will ever truly feel safe again,” Pineda said.
According to the complaint, he was held in severely overcrowded cells containing more than 40 people — at times as many as 60 — leaving little room to sit and forcing him to remain standing for much of his detention. Detainees also allegedly shared a single toilet and sink without soap or toilet paper and were not provided toothbrushes, clean clothes, or showers.
Fluorescent lights remained on around the clock, making it difficult to sleep, while temperatures became “extremely cold” overnight and some detainees received only aluminum blanekts for warmth, the complaint states.
Pineda was given only a two-minute phone call during his detention and received two bottles of water each day, along with “inadequate and limited” food and water, according to the complaint.
“Mr. Pineda has suffered devastating and ongoing physical and emotional harm that has impacted all aspects of his life,” his attorneys wrote. “Mr. Pineda brings this action to seek accountability for these violent and traumatizing tortious acts of the ICE officers and to address the harms inflicted upon him.”
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According to LCR, Pineda was released following advocacy by Centro Presente, a Massachusetts immigrant rights organization.
After his release, ICE initiated removal proceedings against him depsite his humanitarian protections, the organization said. Those proceedings were ultimately dismissed.
“ICE targeted Mr. Pineda based on nothing more than his perceived national origin and the nature of his work,” Albert said in the press release. “Our laws prohibit this kind of arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. Through this lawsuit, we seek to hold the federal government accountable for the violence and harm inflicted on Mr. Pineda.”
ICE referred questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Homeland Security. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
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