The past month in Massachusetts has been synonymous with World Cup fan festivals, cheering crowds and tourists from Scotland crowning statues with traffic cones.
Amid concerns that the Trump administrations would ramp up immigration enforcement during the tournament, international soccer fans have posted on social media that they’ve felt welcome in the United States. The World Cup has even served as a distraction for many immigrants who’ve spent the past year and half in fear of the Trump administration’s deportation push.
And yet beneath the surface, immigration lawyers and advocates say detentions have not only continued across Massachusetts since the World Cup started in early June — they’ve increased in frequency.
“It’s supposed to be a joyous time for families, for children, and we’re still seeing an increase of arrests,” Eloa Celedon, an immigration attorney based in Marlborough, said. “Prior to the World Cup, it had settled down a bit — but since the World Cup started, it has been very sad to see arrests happening.”
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During May and early June, Celedon said her office received one or two calls a week about potential clients who’ve been recently detained. Over the last month, those calls have increased to four to five a day.
Celedon’s experiences track with a reported nationwide surge in arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over a recent five-day period, agents across the nation detained more than 10,000 people. The arrests have occurred during routine check-ins with ICE agents as well as during traffic stops.
Todd Pomerleau, an immigration attorney and the president of Mass Deportation Defense Project, called the spike in arrests a “remarkable” contrast to the international goodwill that’s been on display during the World Cup. He pointed to a recent game he was at in California between Belgium and Iran, recounting the way players and fans cordially listened to both teams’ national anthems played before the match.
“Juxtapose that with what I’ve seen as an immigration attorney,” Pomerleau said. ”The government seems like it goes out of its way to basically arrest people without justification a lot and then just throw them in detention facilities.”
No attorneys have heard of any cases of immigrants being detained around the World Cup matches at Gillette Stadium, temporarily renamed Boston Stadium.
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A closer look at recent enforcement numbers
ICE didn’t respond to questions about how many people it has detained in Massachusetts since the start of the World Cup — the agency usually doesn’t provide time-specific enforcement figures.
Still, there are other ways to get rough estimates. Attorneys often file habeas petitions in federal court, asking judges to intervene in alleged unlawful detentions and keep immigrants from being sent to detention centers in other states.
There have been nearly 190 habeas filings in Massachusetts federal district court since the beginning of the World Cup matches, according to Habeas Dockets, a tracker run by the nonprofit Immigration Justice Transparency Initiative. Cases rose by 21% in June overall from the month before, going from 183 in May to 222.
One of those filings was for Malton Lacerda, who was detained June 28 by ICE agents after shopping at a Walmart in Halifax with his son Victor Lacerda, a Navy vet. The elder Lacerda wore a T-shirt saying “Navy Dad” as he put groceries in the car.
“Then we get rushed by a bunch of different ICE agents with guns drawn and threatening us. And we were confused,” Victor Lacerda, the son, said. “I looked back to see what was going on, because at first I couldn’t even believe it was happening to us, because we were just getting groceries. We hadn’t done anything wrong. And that’s when I saw them putting hands on my father and detaining him. But they were still asking me questions about my citizenship and my father’s citizenship.”
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Victor Lacerda, who was born in the United States, served in the Navy after high school and lives in Kingston, Massachusetts. His father, who’s undocumented, is originally from Brazil and has lived in the United States for at least 25 years. He’s currently being held at Plymouth County’s ICE detention facility.
Pomerleau, the Lacerdas’ attorney, says the father was in the process of securing a green card when he was detained. He’s eligible for permanent residency in the United States through a special process for veteran family members.
Pomerleau called the father an exemplary member of his community, noting that he works as a horse trainer and provides horse therapy for disabled veterans. He and his son also march in local parades, and planned on doing so again for the Fourth of July.
“He’s done a lot of work for the community for years. He marched in the 400th Thanksgiving Parade down in Plymouth, Memorial Day parades,” Pomerleau said.
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Malton Laceda in a Massachusetts parade last year.
Courtesy of Victor Laceda
Lacerda has two 20-year-old cases of driving without a license and paying fines, and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge from 2008 that was dismissed, involving his ex-partner who’s now raising funds for his legal expenses. ICE didn’t return requests for comment on the case.
Local immigration advocates say the recent spike in arrests is one more way the Trump administration has cherry-picked which foreigners and immigrants can enjoy the world’s biggest sporting event.
Celedon noted that the federal immigration crackdown has also made it impossible, or very difficult, for people from countries on full or partial travel ban lists to visit the United States to attend World Cup games. Those countries include Haiti and others in Africa.
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“It feels like almost like racial profiling people of certain countries that are allowed to come and those that are not allowed to come and not allowed to stay,” Celedon said.
Carson Erick, Jake Mrva, and Patrick Kilcoyne took a big first step Monday toward reaching match play by sharing the lead at 3-under 68 in the 118th Massachusetts Amateur at Winchester Country Club.
Kilcoyne was the runner-up last year at GreatHorse to Ryan Downes.
Max McColgan posted the only bogey-free round of the day, with a 69. He birdied two of the par 5s, Nos. 2 and 13. He is part of a group of four at 2 under that also includes 2024 champion Matthew Naumec.
Among the six members of the host club in the 144-player field, Joey Monahan led the way with a 70. His cousin, Aidan Monahan, won the club championship on Sunday and turned in a 72. They are nephews of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
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Lucas Dascoli recorded a hole-in-one on the 127-yard ninth hole with a 50-degree wedge. The ace had him make the turn at 1 over, but he dropped five shots over the final four holes and settled for a 77 and is in a tie for 71st.
The average score was 76.83, playing 2.67 over par on the front and 3.15 over on the back. Ten players managed to post a red figure while eight turned in a 71.
The top 32 players following Tuesday’s second round of qualifying will reach match play that begins Wednesday. The 36-hole final is scheduled for Friday.
Keith Pearson can be reached at keith.pearson@globe.com.
It’s not just great white sharks that are taking stripers from fishermen these days.
Porbeagle sharks — which stick around the Bay State all year — have been spotted several times in the last week chomping on striped bass that fishermen caught.
Those on a recent whale watch off the Cape even got a front-row seat to the action.
“We hope you lunge after your Fourth of July hot dog like this porbeagle going after a striped bass on our Provincetown whale watch yesterday!” Captain John Boats posted.
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“It was incredible to see this top predator in its element in this National Geographic moment,” Captain John Boats added. “Our naturalist said it may have even been his favorite whale watch he has ever been on… Thanks to MA Sharks for your support and for showing us how to ID different shark species!”
MA Sharks is run by shark researcher John Chisholm, who on the day before July 4th received four different reports of porbeagle sharks taking striped bass.
“It was a busy day for porbeagle shark sightings yesterday,” Chisholm posted. “This is one of four reports we received yesterday of them taking striped bass from the N Shore to Nantucket. If you have an encounter like this, please let me know.”
Meanwhile over the holiday weekend, great white sharks were spotted all across the region.
In Cape Cod Bay, an 8-foot white shark was seen about two miles west of Wellfleet’s Jeremy Point.
On the South Shore, a dead seal with shark bites was found along Rexhame Beach in Marshfield.
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And up on the North Shore, a small white shark was spotted about five miles off Marblehead.
Then much farther north, a beach was closed to swimming in Maine after a report of two sharks near Reid State Park.
“Swimming areas currently have been cleared,” the Maine town of Georgetown posted Sunday morning. “Be safe, stay alert, and enjoy Georgetown.”
A couple hours later, the swimming area at Reid was reopened.
“If you are in or on the water, please stay alert,” the town added.
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White sharks come to the region every summer and fall to hunt for seals close to shore.
Before heading into the water, Chisholm urges people to review shark safety guidelines, including: be aware that sharks hunt for seals in shallow water; stay close to shore where rescuers can reach you; don’t isolate yourself; avoid areas where seals are present; avoid areas where schools of fish are visible; avoid murky or low-visibility water; limit splashing; and follow all signage and flag warnings at beaches and instructions of the lifeguards.
Chisholm also encourages beachgoers to use the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Sharktivity app to view shark activity, get shark alerts and report sightings.
In each of the last two years, the state issued more than 500 citations to drivers on state highways, the Massachusetts Turnpike, and the Boston Harbor tunnels, a Globe analysis of state data found. And 2026 is on track to outpace those figures, with the state already logging nearly 270 citations by late June.
Wrong-way crashes tend to be at least 12 times deadlier than other car accidents, studies show, and their causes are frustratingly difficult to pin down to a single source.
Now state officials are rushingto implement a new $75 million program that includes a constellation of cameras, new road signs, and infrastructure improvements designed to prevent wrong-way collisions.
Massachusetts supercharged the effort after the death of state Trooper Kevin Trainor spurred calls for stronger action, including from Governor Maura Healey, said Jonathan Gulliver, a state undersecretary of transportation.
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Gulliversaidthe Massachusetts Department of Transportation now expects to mount 430 detection cameras by the end of 2027. The system notifies wrong-way drivers with an audible alarm, flashing signs, and a spotlight, then pings law enforcement if a driver does not turn around.
The installation underway builds off a smaller pilot program at 16 Massachusetts locations that flagged roughly 300 wrong-way incidents since 2022.
“I’m not sure that [wrong-way crashes] happened more or less years ago, but I am certain we didn’t hear about them as much when they did,” Gulliver said.
In all, wrong-way crashes are among the “most preventable” roadway accidents but difficult to eliminate because they cannot be tracked cleanly to one source, said AAA spokesperson Mark Schieldrop.
Persistent speeding, distracting and impaired driving, and an aging population of drivers confused behind the wheel are the leading contributors to wrong-way citations, experts said. Nationally, six in 10 wrong-way crashes involve an alcohol-impaired driver.
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And the dark of night can’t take all the blame, either: nearly 45 percent of crashes in Massachusetts occurred during daylight hours.
And though a wrong-way incident can be as simple as sliding into the unintended lane on a ramp, a single mistake against the flow of traffic is often dangerous.
In Massachusetts, at least 135 people have died in 5,506 wrong-way crashes on Massachusetts roads since 2018, according to AAA. That includes 22 deaths in 2025, the most in a single year during that time frame.
State officials here are focusing first on divided highways, where high-speed crashes can be especially deadly. MassDOT has identified 100 high-risk spots for wrong-way detection cameras, which include crash-prone intersections already equipped with cameras in Danvers, Auburn, Braintree, Fall River, and Wheatley.
Roughly 70 other roads at risk for wrong-way crashes may require larger reconstruction projects down the line, Gulliver said.
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A camera pointed toward the offramp from Route 128 northbound onto High Street in Danvers.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Stateleaders also intend to install clearer “wrong way” and “do not enter” signage, improved pavement markings, directional arrows, and better lighting at highway ramps and interchanges.
Legislation tucked into the state’s $63 billion budget plan, sent to the governor’s desk Wednesday, also proposes a study to improve roadway safety for drivers over 70, an expansion of law enforcement training, and completion of an analysis of documented incidents of wrong-way driving.
At a press conference following a vote on the budget amendment, Nicole Dailey lauded the efforts to address the issue after her son Christopher Dailey, an 18‑year‑old Gloucester High School graduate and hockey team captain, died in a wrong-way crash on Route 128 last summer.
“I don’t want any other community to have to go through this,” said Dailey. “It’s . . . senseless.”
Across the country, fatal wrong-way crashes doubled in the decade after 2014. Recent crashes in Massachusetts have involved drivers under the influence or allegedly fleeing the State Police, but many incidents can be traced back to disorientation and poor signage. Winding roads and complicated overpasses — specific to the older infrastructure and circuitous traffic patterns in Massachusetts — can add to the problem, Gulliver said.
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In response, state officials sourced detection technology from TAPCO, a Wisconsin-based transportation product company. The cameras, mounted on street light signals, use artificial intelligence and heat detection to identify wrong-way drivers and differentiate them from pedestrians, birds, and other hazards, Gulliver said.
The software-based system costs $20,000 per camera to install, less than half the $70,000 price tag associated with cameras in the previous statepilot program. Those cameras use “loop detection” to manually identify wrong-way drivers, using wiring in the roads that recognizes passing vehicles above.
An average of two wrong-way cameras are installed each week. Some have proved to be fruitful immediately.
At the intersection of Routes 128 and 35 in Danvers, where officials connected a camera on June 16, “the same day we activated it, we caught a wrong-way driver,” Gulliver said.
In the next few years, state officials also hope to have a system that automatically pings roadside message boards and GPS systems to notify drivers about wrong-way vehicles.
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Still, Massachusetts is moving more slowly than other states.
Rhode Island — a “leader” in wrong-way crash detection, Gulliver said — did not have a single wrong-way driving death in the decade after it began its analysis of collision hotspots at 200 ramps statewide in 2015. Ultimately, additional wrong-way signs, lower to the ground and with flashing lights, worked in tandem with other low-cost measures to warn over 1,000 vehicles that they need to turn around, state data show.
Authorities respond to the scene where a wrong-way driver and State Police trooper were killed in Lynnfield in May.WBZ
Eva Zymaris, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, said the installation of cameras bore similar results in that state, with 237 out of 400 planned locations operational to date.
Illuminated wrong-way signs flash when a driver is going the wrong way and pings two highway operations centers. That avoids the need for 911 calls that can otherwise pour in after an accident has already happened, Zymaris said.
In 2022, before the $81 million system was installed, 23 people died from wrong-way crashes in Connecticut. Preliminary data show there were four deaths in 2025.
“Seconds count here,” Zymaris said. “To be able to expedite that response time is huge to prevent crashes and fatalities.”
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Now Vermont and Maine are also ramping up prevention efforts, after the number of wrong-way deaths rose in both states. And nationwide, states such as Ohio and Florida implemented detection technology roughly a decade ago. Nevada adopted harsher penalties for wrong-way driving in 2025.
Wrong-way crashes, typically the fault of an individual driver, can rarely be solved otherwise, said Peter Savolainen, a Michigan State University professor who studies road user behavior.
“A lot of times drivers don’t know until it’s too late that they’re going the wrong way,” he said. “So all states can do — and are doing — is try to make it more difficult for people to make that incorrect decision.”
Samantha J. Gross of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her @ditikohli_. Scooty Nickerson can be reached at scooty.nickerson@globe.com.
