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Acton officials, police address ICE arrests, large-scale protest

Hundreds of protesters gathered at Acton Town Hall after ICE operations over the weekend led to several arrests.

ICE operations in Acton over the weekend sparked a large-scale protest which drew hundreds of demonstrators.
ICE operations in Acton over the weekend sparked a large-scale protest which drew hundreds of demonstrators. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

By Darin Zullo

2 minutes to read

Acton officials are responding after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in the town prompted hundreds of protesters to gather Sunday.

“Earlier today, I was contacted by a few constituents and advocates who are trusted sources that ICE agents were in Acton today,” state Sen. Jamie Eldridge wrote on Facebook. “From the information, pictures and videos I was sent, ICE arrested people living in one of the Great Road apartments, and arrested people driving in their car near Trader Joe’s.”

Eldridge stated that he reached out to Acton Police Chief James A. Cogan and verified that they were not involved in the arrests. Cogan released a statement Monday to “address community concerns” about the operations.

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“During the course of that operation, conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Acton Police were asked to respond solely for the purpose of maintaining public safety and managing crowd control,” Cogan said in the statement. “At no point did Acton Police officers take part in any enforcement actions related to immigration.”

Cogan wrote that Acton police did not make any arrests and that they were only there to “…help ensure that the situation remained peaceful and that everyone’s rights — including the right to protest — were respected.”

Cogan also stated that Acton police do not enforce federal immigration laws and will direct their focus toward keeping the community safe.

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“In keeping with well-established select board and town policies, and in consultation with the town’s legal counsel, we do not ask anyone we interact with about their immigration status,” Cogan said in the statement. “We do not collect, or store information related to the immigration status of our residents and visitors, nor do we detain or arrest persons based on their immigration status.”

The arrests Saturday led to a large-scale protest Sunday outside Acton Town Hall, where hundreds of demonstrators chanted and held signs speaking out against ICE. Eldridge estimated that “maybe 300 to 400 people” attended, according to The Lowell Sun.

The event, titled “Emergency Protest: Hands Off Acton Families,” was organized by Lorena Betts of the Peacemakers Network, which has connections to the New England Network for Justice for Palestine.

Betts told The Lowell Sun that ICE officers smashed the truck windows of a person they arrested on Great Road and stayed for hours at a condominium complex where families were taken into custody.

ICE agents returned to Acton, “trolling and traumatizing the community,” Eldridge wrote on X.

Eldridge said on Facebook that he did not immediately have other information about the people detained but that he and his staff are trying to connect them with immigration lawyers. He also mentioned that a constituent in Marlborough was recently arrested by ICE.

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“To the general public, I want to be absolutely clear that this is what ICE is doing, carrying out President Trump’s executive order to deport all undocumented immigrants,” Eldridge wrote on Facebook. “I cannot emphasize enough that these tactics are harming the public safety of every community, as well as scaring legally-authorized immigrants in the community as well, including today those living on Great Road in Acton.”

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