Gov. Maura Healey is calling on federal agents to provide better information about the immigration arrests that took place on Martha’s Vineyard this week.  

At a press conference Wednesday, Governor Healey said the arrests of about 40 people on the Vineyard and Nantucket by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have caused fear to ripple throughout the Islands.

The agency has not released the names of the people detained, nor given explicit reasons why they were arrested. ICE has claimed that of the 40 people, one was a member of a gang and another was a sex offender, though it has not provided any further evidence of the allegations.

“This is part of the problem that we’re seeing with ICE across the country, and certainly here in Massachusetts,” Governor Healey said. “People are being picked up, we have no information about their circumstance.”

Maura Healey during a previous Island visit.

Ray Ewing

Maura Healey during a previous Island visit.

Ray Ewing

Arrests took place across the Island, starting Tuesday morning. Eyewitnesses described masked officers in unmarked vehicles pulling people over and asking them for immigration documents. 

Island and state police have said they were not notified about the arrests, an issue that irked the governor.

“We have zero information,” she said. “Local police chiefs have zero information about what’s happening in their communities. We at the state level have zero information about what’s happening in communities and that needs to change. We need to get answers.”

Governor Healey said she was not against working with the federal government — she had set up a task force to deal with fentanyl during her previous role as attorney general — but she said the tactics used on the Islands seemed beyond arresting known criminals.

Other public officials have also called out the ICE action on the Island. 

State Sen. Julian Cyr, the Island’s representative at the State House, was also alarmed by the large-scale enforcement action. 

“The operation appears to have gone far beyond any targeted effort,” he said in a statement. “Multiple work vans were profiled and pulled over across the Islands, individuals were questioned without clear cause, and 40 people were taken into federal custody and dramatically removed from the Islands aboard Coast Guard vessels.”

He worried about the consequences of the sweep, saying it will leave families in fear, disrupt the Island’s economy and send a chilling message to immigrants on the Island. 

“It’s shameful to see immigrant Islanders targeted and terrorized in a dragnet,” he said. “If you enjoy Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, or Cape Cod, especially in the summer, please remember that it is immigrants who make your vacation possible.”  

The arrests came up briefly at the Oak Bluffs select board Tuesday evening, and board member Tom Hallahan was upset to see worker vans pulled over.

“We live on such a beautiful Island, a beautiful place. Today, I had the day off... and how saddened I was to be driving down the streets and [see] vehicles pulled over,” he said. 

“It’s not the first time,” he added. “It’s happened before, but as a citizen of this country and a resident of this Island, I had to speak up, because what I saw was disappointing and very, very sad to see it happening here in our community.” 

In a statement after the arrests, ICE said the Vineyard and Nantucket operation was a sign of the strong alliance between federal agencies.

“ICE officers and FBI, DEA and ATF agents worked together to arrest a significant number of illegal alien offenders which included at least one child predator,” said Patricia Hyde, the acting director of ICE’s Boston field office.

The Department of Homeland Security, in a social media post sharing a Nantucket Current video of detainees being transported off Nantucket, issued a warning to other people in the country without the proper documentation. 

“ICE is removing illegal aliens from ALL states, communities, and worksites across this country,” the department wrote. “If you are here illegally, use the CBP app to self-deport. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance of return.” 

Addison Antonoff contributed to this article.