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Live updates: How Mass. is responding to Trump’s immigration plans
The Trump administration's immigration crackdown is already affecting Massachusetts in a number of ways.
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As President Trump’s second term gets underway amid a flurry of executive actions, the landscape of immigration enforcement is changing rapidly across the country and in Massachusetts.
Fox News correspondents embedded with ICE agents for raids in Boston already, and school districts are taking measures to shield students from ICE agents operating without warrants. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is being called to testify before Congress about her city’s “sanctuary” policies, while Attorney General Andrea Campbell is suing the Trump administration over its “flagrantly illegal” effort to halt birthright citizenship.
Immigrant advocates are ramping up their vocal opposition to Trump’s deportation plans, even as some officials push for new laws to allow increased cooperation with ICE.
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Keep up with the latest local developments here.
Rep. Lynch defends his support for the Laken Riley Act as the only Mass. voter (Jan. 29)
President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act, an immigration detention measure passed last week that allows ICE agents to detain and potentially deport people accused of certain crimes.
The measure passed with some bipartisan support but with only one vote from Massachusetts – Rep. Stephen Lynch.
Trump signed the act Wednesday, which is the first law of the new administration. The Laken Riley Act, named for a Georgia nursing student killed by a Venezuelan man who entered the country illegally, requires unauthorized migrants accused of theft and violent crimes to be detained and potentially deported, even without a conviction.
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Lynch was one of 46 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives who deviated from their party to pass the bill last week.
Lynch said in a statement about his vote that he believes “we have lost control of the immigration process in this country.”
“We no longer have the ability to regulate and discern who is allowed to enter our country,” his statement said.
Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern criticized the bill, now law, on X earlier this month, saying it unjustly allows people accused of crimes like shoplifting to be detained by ICE.
“This is a trojan horse bill that exploits Laken Riley’s tragic murder in order to dramatically expand the government’s power to shut down LEGAL immigration & detain people who are not convicted of any crime at all,” McGovern wrote.
Lynch defended his vote in his statement, saying the law could help inform immigration reform.
“We also seem to be uncertain what the consequences will be when someone who is unlawfully present in our country breaks the law,” Lynch said. “While far from perfect, House passage of the Laken Riley Act begins to engage on those issues and attempts to bring greater certainty and clarity to that process.”
Lynn 18-year-old who allegedly pushed her brother during an argument now in ICE custody (Jan. 29)
An 18-year-old woman from Lynn with legal authorization to work in the United States was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after she was accused of pushing her brother during an argument, according to her lawyer.
Zeneyda Barrera, born in Nicaragua, allegedly pushed her 12-year-old brother to the floor as the two siblings fought over a cell phone, court records show. Police noted that her brother was not injured, and there was no history of domestic or warrants associated with the address, according to the report.
Her lawyer, Patrick Callahan, told Boston.com that the charges against Barrera, who works at Chipotle and has legal work status, were likely going to be dropped. However, she was detained by ICE agents Monday immediately after she was released from custody. She is currently in Cumberland County Jail in Maine, he said.
“For a case like this, that’s getting diverted, where there’s never likely to be any sort of conviction, and for a person who has legal status in this country to be taken into custody is something that shocked me,” Callahan said.
Read the full story here.
Wu discusses being called to testify about ‘sanctuary’ policies (Jan. 28)
Mayor Michelle Wu has not yet decided whether she will appear before Congress after receiving a letter calling her to testify about Boston’s “sanctuary” status.
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“We’re still reviewing the letter and working through what all the details will be in terms of a response if and when that happens,” Wu said during a Tuesday news conference.
Wu is one of four mayors who has been asked to testify, along with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston.
“We’re all experiencing a lot of the same sense of chaos and destabilization right now, whether it is the threat of federal funds that are legally obligated being pulled away or the sense of fear that’s being created in the communities at the local level,” Wu said.
When asked if she would defy a subpoena commanding her to testify before Congress, Wu did not clarify how she would respond.
“We have not received [a subpoena], so we don’t have to speculate on that just yet,” she said.
Wu cited Boston’s recent low crime and gun violence rates, child care expansion, and affordable housing creation as examples of the city’s progress that “may seem threatening to some.”
Wu also took measures to reassure Boston residents who have concerns about potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids amid the filing of a bill which would increase cooperation between ICE and local police.
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“Within our domain, we’re very clear; in schools, in interactions with public safety officials, in community centers, we don’t ask about immigration status,” Wu said. “We hold everyone accountable regardless of immigration status for any crimes or harm that’s committed, and we also work very hard to ensure that there’s full access to services regardless of immigration status and for everyone in our community.”
Though Wu has not yet confirmed whether or not she plans to testify, she reminded Bostonians that her main goal, as well as the main goal of the city at large, is to serve local communities first.
“It seems that D.C. is going to play politics,” Wu said. “Let them do what they’re doing; we are going to stay focused on serving our communities here, locally.”
Rumors of ICE raid at Boston Children’s Hospital are unfounded, hospital says (Jan. 28)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not raid Boston Children’s Hospital Tuesday morning, despite persistent online rumors, the hospital said.
Popular X accounts, including @OnlyInBOS and other political commentators, posted the rumor Tuesday morning that there was allegedly an “ICE raid” at the children’s hospital.
A spokesperson for Boston Children’s confirmed to Boston.com that ICE was not at the hospital Tuesday.
ICE has performed high-profile raids in cities including Boston since President Donald Trump took office. Federal agents, alongside an embedded FOX News crews, arrested several undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds in the Boston area last week, while House Republicans are targeting “sanctuary cities,” including Boston.
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Two local doctors, resident physician David Velasquez at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and pediatrician Scott Hadland at Massachusetts General Hospital, reacted to the rumor on X.
“If true, this is absolutely horrendous. … These are kids with cancer, rare heart conditions, limb deformities, and more,” Velasquez wrote.
Hadland said while the rumor may not be true, “the fear is.” He included a screenshot of the original @OnlyInBOS post, which was later deleted. That post appears to be one of the first that circulated online about the rumored raid.
“Children’s hospitals are places of healing, and sometimes, unbearable heartache. Law enforcement has no place interrupting care of sick kids,” Hadland wrote. He clarified that the rumor was false, but said “hospitals need to be prepared for if this does happen” and “we need to speak out that this is never acceptable; hospitals need to be places of healing.”
Cities, schools continue to assure residents they won’t cooperate with ICE without a warrant (Jan. 28)
Superintendents across Massachusetts have issued statements this week reiterating their commitment to teaching all students and reassuring families worried about President Donald Trump’s attack on illegal immigrants that their children will be safe at school.
In a letter to the Framingham Public Schools community, Superintendent Bob Tremblay said he recognizes that “there are escalating concerns” about ICE and other recent changes that go against “previous enforcement protections.”
“We acknowledge that our students may be withdrawing emotionally and physically from our schools out of fear and we want to be as supportive, resourceful, and forthcoming as possible with the information that we have available to us at this time,” Tremblay wrote.
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He reminded the community that there is a limit to executive action, and that despite sensationalism in the media, “schools can set the tone for their school community.” Framingham does not and will not ask about immigration status or release student records without parental consent or a court order, and ICE can only enter with a judicial warrant, not an administrative warrant, he said.
Framingham and Salem are two of the latest school districts to make an announcement along these lines, following Worcester, which is the state’s second largest school district, and Somerville.
In a joint letter, Salem Superintendent Stephen Zrike and Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said the district is “deeply dedicated to supporting our immigrant students and their families.”
Like Framingham, Salem does not inquire about a student’s immigration status or share information with third parties. If Salem is contacted about a student by ICE, it will let the child’s family know, and students will only be released to individuals who are authorized as emergency contacts, according to the letter.
“We have notified bus drivers to keep students on buses if they suspect that there is an unauthorized individual waiting at a student’s stop,” Zrike and Pangallo wrote.
Vrike and Pangallo pointed Salem families to resources including the ACLU’s Know Your Rights, and said they would continue to update the community as more information becomes available.
“We are honored to serve such a diverse and talented population of students across our schools,” they wrote. “Each student and family is an asset to our community and we stand ready to support them in any way we can.”
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Boston Teachers Union President Erik Berg and American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts President Jessica Tang released a joint statement in which they said they “wholeheartedly condemn” Trump’s policy and “the xenophobic and racist rhetoric being used to stoke fear and vision throughout our nation.”
“Educators across the state and nation are ready to stand up and defend the rights and safety of their students,” they wrote.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office released statewide guidance regarding K-12 schools’ obligation to protect students. In it, she reminded educators that all students are entitled to equal access to public education, and that if an ICE agent requests access to a student, schools should send them to the central office of the district.
“The school or district should also immediately notify the student’s parent or guardian. Superintendents should contact the district’s legal counsel to discuss the appropriate response before proceeding,” she wrote.
It outlines the exceptions that permit the disclosure of student information without consent, and provides advice for sharing resources with students and their families.
“Taking these steps will help protect students and their information and help to ensure classrooms are safe for learning,” Campbell wrote.
Immigrant advocates to rally outside State House Wednesday (Jan. 28)
State lawmakers and immigrant advocates will hold a rally outside the Massachusetts State House Wednesday at noon to launch a campaign aimed at defending immigrants from President Trump’s “harmful and hateful policies.”
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The “Protect Our Immigrant Communities” Campaign is being spearheaded by The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition.
“Immigrants make Massachusetts stronger by filling our communities with their culture, keeping our economy running amidst a workforce shortage, and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local taxes,” MIRA Executive Director Elizabeth Sweet said in a statement. “Beacon Hill must pass reforms to protect immigrants who give so much to our state, and the ‘Protect Our Immigrant Communities’ campaign will advocate tirelessly to make that a reality.”
As part of the campaign MIRA is championing two pieces of legislation. The Safe Communities Act would ban questioning by court and police officials about immigration status, require written consent before ICE interrogations in jails, and ensure other protections for immigrants being targeted by ICE. The Immigrant Legal Defense Act would increase legal services for immigrants facing deportation.
State sens. Jamie Eldridge, Liz Miranda, and Adam Gomez are scheduled to attend the rally. State reps. Manny Cruz, Priscila Sousa, and David Rogers will join them.
Since Trump’s inauguration, MIRA has been working to inform residents of their rights during encounters with ICE.
GOP lawmakers file bill to increase cooperation between ICE and local police (Jan. 28)
Two Republican state lawmakers filed legislation last week that would let local law enforcement increase cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The bill would allow local authorities to detain non-citizens who ICE has determined are “removable aliens” for a longer period of time, thus paving the way for a smoother transfer of custody between local law enforcement and ICE.
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In 2017, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that individuals cannot be detained solely on the basis of federal civil immigration detainers. ICE regularly lodges these detainer requests with local law enforcement when the agency discovers that an undocumented immigrant eligible for deportation is being detained. Through detainer requests, ICE asks local officials to hold people for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would ordinarily be released, so that federal agents can assume custody of the person.
But ICE detainers are not mandatory, and local law enforcement in Massachusetts can choose whether or not to cooperate with them. Most detainers are not supported by probable cause, according to the ACLU of Massachusetts, and courts around the country have found them to be unconstitutional when they are not supported by probable cause.
ICE officials say that detainers increase public safety by keeping criminals locked up and conserve government resources by allowing direct transfer to ICE instead of forcing agents to go out and look for people after they have already been released.
Proponents of “sanctuary” policies, including many leaders in Boston, say that people are more likely to positively impact their communities and proactively report crimes when they do not fear deportation. “Sanctuary” policies like the one in place in Boston do allow for local police to work with ICE on matters of “significant public safety importance,” and undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes are deported.
The bill would allow local officials to hold people on civil immigration detainers for a 36-hour “buffer” period.
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State reps. Michael Soter of Bellingham and Kenneth Sweezey of Pembroke filed the bill. They have the backing of state Sen. Peter Durant, Worcester County Sheriff Lew Evangelidis and Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald, Jr.
“Both sides of the aisle are united in the belief that undocumented immigrants who come here to commit crimes should be returned to their home countries. The state and local authorities must be able to detain these criminals and give ICE the opportunity to take action,” Soter said in a statement.
The legislation is the latest attempt to crack down on so-called “sanctuary” policies, or ones that limit cooperation between federal immigration authorities and local law enforcement. Multiple immigration-focused organizations use the 2017 decision as the deciding factor in determining whether or not Massachusetts should be considered a “sanctuary state.” In that ruling, the court deferred to the state Legislature to define guidelines around the detainment of people based on ICE requests.
Lawmakers have failed to act since then, allowing a “loophole” to remain in place that prevents local officials from holding “dangerous illegal non-citizens” with detainer requests for extra time. This allows them to “walk free after committing significant crimes in certain situations,” the sponsors said in a press release.
“This legislation is a commonsense approach to closing a loophole in the current law,” McDonald said in a statement. “The public expects law enforcement agencies to be communicating and assuring individuals are not released back to our community if wanted by another jurisdiction. We are simply asking for legal authority to do just that.”
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