Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey was captured on video being rushed away from reporters this week after federal law enforcement confirmed that the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football player is a Nigerian national who had been living in the country illegally. The episode came days after Healey publicly declared that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was making Massachusetts less safe.
The suspect, identified as Chukwunonso Uzoma David Uzoma Eze, first entered the United States on March 18, 2015, at Boston Logan International Airport on a B-2 visitor visa, according to a Department of Homeland Security source. He later obtained two approved extensions before overstaying his visa entirely. He was arrested by the Bristol County Sheriff’s Department on September 21, 2026, on a fugitive-from-justice warrant, following the stabbing of two UMass Dartmouth football players in a Providence, Rhode Island, parking lot. One of the athletes died. Eze now faces a murder charge.
Does Healy prefer protecting illegal immigrants over Americans? It seems to be that way.
Deferred Action Approved Under Biden and Trump
Federal immigration records show that Eze applied for deferred action, which delays deportation at the government’s discretion, and was approved in September 2022 under the Biden administration. He applied again in February 2025, and the Trump administration approved that second request in October 2025, with protection set to expire in October 2027. Fox News reporter Bill Melugin was first to report the full immigration timeline, citing DHS sources, and his account included UMass Dartmouth stabbing immigration history. An application for employment authorization filed in 2023 was rejected, while a second such application filed in February 2025 remains pending.
Melugin reported that Eze “had been in the U.S. illegally as a B-2 visa overstay, but was shielded from deportation by the Biden administration in 2022 when they granted his request for ‘deferred action.'”
Healey Hustled Away From Reporters at Public Event
Boston Herald political reporter Tim Dunn posted video on September 25 showing himself pursuing Healey’s staff through a building in an attempt to get a response from the governor. Dunn wrote that Healey was “quickly hustled out of an event today to avoid media questions” about the stabbing suspect’s immigration status.
“She and her staff went in the opposite direction of the media through a crowd of people,” Dunn noted in his post. He added that Healey had said just days earlier that ICE is “making Massachusetts less safe” and is primarily targeting people “without a criminal record.” Healey has also criticized her Republican challenger for reelection, Mike Minogue, for supporting federal immigration enforcement.
What Comes Next for Healey and the Case
In August, Healey signed the PROTECT Law, which restricts ICE activity in locations such as courthouses, schools, and hospitals. Days after she signed that measure, ICE Boston arrested a Brazilian national wanted for murder. Legal observers have noted that Massachusetts sanctuary policies could conflict with federal statutes governing the sheltering of illegal aliens and interference with federal officers, specifically 8 U.S. Code Section 1324 and 18 U.S. Code Section 118.
Eze remains in custody facing murder charges. Healey’s office had not publicly addressed her immigration enforcement position in relation to the UMass Dartmouth case as of the time of reporting. The stabbing is expected to remain a central issue in her reelection campaign against Minogue heading into the fall.
