Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell launched an online portal Friday that lets Massachusetts residents report and share documentation of alleged misconduct by federal immigration agents.
“We’ve seen across the country and here in Massachusetts that the tactics of ICE under the Trump Administration have been putting everyone at risk,” Healey said in a statement. “This new reporting portal will help us gather information, support residents and ensure federal agents operating in our state are following the law.”
The portal at mass.gov/fedmisconduct allows people to document incidents, and upload photos and videos, that involve agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies that enforce civil immigration laws. That information could inform possible legal action or policy recommendations for the state, according to the press release.
Thousands of immigrants in Massachusetts have been detained by ICE since President Donald Trump took office last year, including over 1,400 in just one federal operation in September alone.
“The core duty of law enforcement, including federal law enforcement, is to keep our communities safe. But what we have seen from ICE in recent months across the country is the opposite: aggressive and reckless tactics that spread fear and chaos in our communities,” Campbell said.
Advocates say they support the portal’s creation.
“This will be a tool. We can take a video and record it when ICE arrests immigrants — we can document how the immigrant community is threatened by ICE, how they are doing it,” said Doris Landaverde, coordinator with the Massachusetts TPS Committee, which focuses on beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status.
Many people with Temporary Protected Status have lost their legal status under the Trump administration, making them vulnerable to deportation.
Marjean Perhot, Vice President for Refugee and Immigrant Services at Catholic Charities of Boston said she sees this as a way to keep clients safe and says the new portal provides a tangible way to make clients feel safer.
“We are seeing fear in our communities, whether it’s in our offices in the North Shore, the South Shore, Boston,” she said. “We’re concerned that they might be afraid to access the basic living assistance that we can provide, fearful to access food from our food pantries, or come to meet with their attorney for their legal cases, come to class to learn English as they’re trying to integrate and transition into the workforce.”
Some populations of immigrants — like those experiencing domestic violence — can be particularly vulnerable. Their advocates are lauding any kind of accountability measures.
“We know that violence and harm thrives in secrecy,” said Hema Sarang-Sieminski, executive director of Jane Doe Inc, which works with survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Sarang-Sieminski added that it’s important to ensure proper protections of safety and privacy for those who choose to use the portal.
The move comes on the heels of Healey asking private airlines to stop conducting deportation flights out of Hanscom Field in Massachusetts. Healey also recently filed legislation to prohibit ICE operations in sensitive locations such as courthouses, schools, child care programs, hospitals and places of worship, and signed an executive order requiring judicial warrants for entry into non-public areas of state facilities.
Other states, including California and New Jersey, have similar online websites for people to report ICE activity.
“This is an opportunity for the public to get involved, to get on that portal, to document anything they see that is concerning,” said Jeff Thielman, president of resettlement agency International Institute of New England, which is suing the federal government for a new policy about detaining refugees. “By doing this, the state is going to gather evidence and information about ICE and use it hopefully to protect people here in the state.”
