BOSTON —

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement Thursday night after a raid earlier this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a car wash in Boston's Allston neighborhood led to nine people being arrested.

The raid happened on Tuesday at the Allston Car Wash on Cambridge Street. The business reopened on Wednesday, but with a sign warning of reduced hours.

"I would say it's pretty close to the definition of kidnapping," Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon said.

Breadon said the manager informed her that some workers had labor authorization cards stored in their lockers, but language barriers prevented them from retrieving the documents to verify their status.

"I think there was some language challenges because folks did have papers and they weren't able

See Full Page