Massachusetts Police and ICE: New Report Finds Widespread Cooperation

What the Report Says

On April 27, 2026, the Boston-based nonprofit Citizens for Juvenile Justice (CfJJ) released a new report on how Massachusetts law enforcement interacts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The findings are stark. Of 62 police departments that responded to public records requests, 28 had policies that allow or require collaboration with ICE. Twenty-four either lacked written policies on ICE contact or did not respond to records requests at all. Only 3 departments had clear policies that limit communication with federal immigration officers.

The report also identified more than 200 instances in which immigrants were taken into ICE custody directly from local police stations, and at least 614 ICE arrests at Massachusetts trial courthouses in 2025 alone. Joshua Dankoff, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at CfJJ, summarized the picture in an interview with GBH: "The status quo is allowing and enabling hundreds and hundreds of people in Massachusetts to be arrested and detained directly by ICE, directly from police departments, and our courts."

How the Cooperation Actually Happens

The CfJJ report describes several routine, mostly invisible mechanisms by which information about a person flows from a Massachusetts police station to ICE. None of these require an officer to call ICE directly. They happen automatically as part of standard processing.

Fingerprints Travel from the Booking Room to ICE

When a Massachusetts police department books someone, even on a misdemeanor allegation, fingerprints are typically sent to the FBI. Through a federal data-sharing system, those fingerprints are checked against ICE records. If ICE is interested in the person, ICE receives a notification. The booking officer does not have to do anything beyond what is normally done in any arrest. The report notes that this fingerprint flow occurs even in some cases involving juveniles and minor charges, and even when Massachusetts law would not require fingerprinting at all.

Detentions and Transfers from Police Lobbies

The report documents over 200 cases in which ICE took custody of an immigrant at a local police station. In a typical pattern, a person is arrested or summoned to a station, fingerprints are run, ICE is alerted, and ICE officers come to the station to take the person into federal custody when they are released or before they leave. For an unrepresented person, the line between a brief local matter and an ICE detention can be a single hour.

Courthouse Arrests Have Continued

Massachusetts trial courthouses recorded at least 614 ICE arrests in 2025. These arrests have happened to people coming to court for unrelated reasons: child support hearings, restraining orders, traffic matters, and even as crime victims. Governor Maura Healey has taken action to limit ICE access to schools, hospitals, courthouses, and places of worship, and the Massachusetts Trial Court has issued its own guidance limiting ICE access to non-public areas. The pressure on courthouses, however, has not gone away, and people in mixed-status families still report fear of going to court.

Automated License Plate Readers

The report flags another channel that few residents know about. Some Massachusetts municipalities use automated license plate reader systems and store the data in databases that federal authorities can search. That means a routine drive past a street camera can become a record that is later available to ICE if it queries the system. The report identifies this as a growing area of cooperation that does not show up on traditional 287(g) lists.

Federal Grants Quietly Tie Departments to ICE

Some Massachusetts municipalities have applied for and accepted Department of Homeland Security grants that come with cooperation expectations. Acceptance of those grants helps lock in working relationships between local police and federal immigration officers, even when the city or town has not formally entered into a 287(g) agreement.

Why This Matters for Brazilian, Haitian, and Cape Verdean Families in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is home to the largest Brazilian immigrant community in the United States and large Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Salvadoran communities. The Brazilian Worker Center and other community groups have documented for years that immigrants in Gateway Cities such as Framingham, Everett, Revere, Brockton, Milford, and Lowell often live a single traffic stop away from a serious immigration consequence. The CfJJ report puts numbers on what families have been reporting in our office for the past year.

For my clients, the most painful pattern is the one that begins with something small. A minor traffic offense, an alleged shoplifting from years ago, a domestic dispute that ends without charges. Each of those events can pull fingerprints into the system. When ICE has been actively targeting Massachusetts since early 2025, the small thing becomes the moment a family is separated.

What You Can Do This Week

The report is sobering, but it is not a reason to panic. There are concrete steps families can take this week to lower risk and to be prepared if police contact happens.

1. Make a Family Emergency Plan

Decide today who would care for your children if you were detained. Sign a Caregiver Authorization Affidavit if appropriate, or talk to a family law attorney about a temporary guardianship arrangement. Keep copies of the document with the caregiver, with a trusted relative, and in a safe place at home. Make sure school pickup lists include more than one adult.

2. Know Your Rights with Police and ICE

You have the right to remain silent. You do not have to answer questions about your country of birth or immigration status. You do not have to open the door to your home unless an officer presents a warrant signed by a judge with your name and address on it. An ICE administrative warrant is not a judicial warrant. You have the right to ask for a lawyer before answering questions. You should never sign a document you do not understand.

3. Carry Limited Documentation, Not Originals

If you are a green card holder or have an EAD, carry photocopies, not originals, when running daily errands. Keep your originals in a secure place at home. If you are stopped, an officer cannot legally take a photocopy and use it to abandon your status.

4. Address Pending or Old Criminal Matters

If you have any pending criminal case, talk to your criminal defense attorney and an immigration attorney before your next court date. If you have an old conviction or dismissed case, ask whether you may be eligible for post-conviction relief, expungement, sealing, or vacatur in Massachusetts. Some old dispositions can be reopened in ways that change their immigration consequences. This work takes time, so the earlier you start, the better.

5. Know What to Do if Police or ICE Show Up

Memorize one phone number for an immigration attorney or a community hotline and write it on the back of an emergency card you carry. If police or ICE appear at your home or workplace, stay calm, do not run, do not open the door without seeing a judicial warrant, and call your attorney as soon as possible. Tell others in your household the rules in advance.

6. Speak Up at the Local Level

The CfJJ report identifies 24 police departments that did not have a clear policy or did not respond. Many cities and towns in Massachusetts have considered ordinances that limit cooperation with ICE in non-criminal matters. If you are a citizen or LPR voter in Massachusetts, attending a select board or city council meeting and asking about your community's policy is one of the most direct things you can do.

What This Report Does Not Change

The report describes the current landscape. It does not change federal immigration law, and it does not change your options for relief. If you are eligible for asylum, SIJS, VAWA, U-visa, T-visa, TPS, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, or any other form of relief, those options are still available. The report is a reason to act sooner, not a reason to give up.

It is also a reminder that good legal preparation is preventive. The cost of a one-hour consultation to review your options and your record is almost always less than the cost of an emergency call from a police station or ICE detention facility. If you are in Massachusetts and you have any concern about how your status, your record, or your family's status interact with the patterns the report describes, please reach out.

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