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Most municipal, county, and state institutions that make up the criminal justice systems in Massachusetts share information and collaborate with federal immigration authorities, according to a report published by social services nonprofit Citizens for Juvenile Justice.
“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,” said Joshua Dankoff, director of strategic initiatives for the organization.
Citizens for Juvenile Justice submitted more than 90 public records requests to law enforcement on all levels locally, finding many police departments either expressly allow collaboration with ICE or don’t have a policy regarding working with the agency.
Records requests to 62 police departments statewide found 28 had policies allowing or requiring collaboration with ICE. Another 24 didn’t have policies or didn’t respond. Only three had rules restricting communicating with ICE.
More than 200 immigrants have been detained directly at police stations, according to the report.
Some departments also required immigration status checks at arrest, and sharing that information with ICE.
Findings also showed police departments are communicating with ICE in the field and sharing fingerprint data that isn’t mandated. The report even documents an example of police violating a state Supreme Judicial Court ruling by holding an immigrant for an extended period of time to contact ICE.
GBH News has reported that at least 614 arrests were made by immigration agents in 2025 at Massachusetts trial courts.
Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, which was not involved in the CfJJ report, said that local law enforcement should not be working with ICE.
“In order to keep the people of Massachusetts safe, especially out immigrant and refugee neighbors, we must ensure local law enforcement isn’t collaborating with ICE and providing sensitive information about individuals,” said Sweet in a statement to GBH News.
Findings
ICE operates a Law Enforcement Service Center that local law enforcement calls for guidance when a detainer pops up in their system. Public records requests found that Shrewsbury police have used an ICE-operated Law Enforcement Service Center set up so that local law enforcement can call for guidance when a detainer pops up in their system. Other departments didn’t provide enough information to tell whether they had used it.
Many police departments automatically fingerprint individuals — including those with alleged misdemeanors and juveniles — even if they’re not required to by Massachusetts law. That includes the Chelsea Police Department, located in a city with a large immigrant population and significant ICE presence. Those fingerprints are shared with the FBI, and through a database, ICE.
State law is quiet about communications and data-sharing with federal immigration enforcement. A 2017 Supreme Judicial Court decision, Lunn v Commonwealth, held that local officers have no legal authority to arrest or detain someone solely on the basis of a federal civil immigration detainer, unless authorized by state law to protect public safety. But that decision never covered information sharing.
Quincy is one of the 28 police departments that allow cooperation with ICE through long-standing policy. The report notes that the policy, updated after Trump took office in 2025, “requires its officers to conduct an INS Immigration Alien query via the National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System “whenever a foreign-born person is arrested” and that the results of this query are shared with the local ICE office.
Citizens for Juvenile Justice says the query is not mandated by federal nor state law, and is based solely on the national origin of the person arrested.
The policy also directs police officers to notify ICE of the “bail determination and circumstances regarding the pending release from custody,” according to a public record reviewed by GBH News.
Mark Kennedy, Quincy’s chief of police, said the policy is consistent with guidance from the Massachusetts Trial Court.
“The INS Immigration Alien Query conducted through National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System is a federally recognized information-sharing tool used nationwide for this purpose,” he said. “Its use is not intended to expand local enforcement authority, but rather to ensure accurate identification and to provide relevant information to the court for bail determinations.”
He said individuals aren’t held on the basis of a federal civil immigration detainer beyond the time they would otherwise be entitled to release. “Any communication with ICE regarding bail determinations or pending release is intended to facilitate an orderly and coordinated transfer of custody when appropriate, and to support public safety,” said Kennedy.
Other departments with policies explicitly outlining cooperation with ICE, like Everett Police Department, didn’t return request for comment.
The report also found other types of information sharing, including automatic license place readers, notably from Georgia-based security company Flock Safety, that store information on a federal cloud database accessible by ICE that can be used to detain individuals.
The report says that grants from the Department of Homeland Security have been applied for and accepted by Massachusetts municipalities that require some funds going to bolster relationships with ICE.
Boston, for instance, in 2025 re-applied for a $12 million DHS grant called the “Urban Area Security Initiative” to help fund the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, or BRIC, which runs a so-called gang member database. The database collects information on immigrants, often youth, in a point system, often based on what they wear and who they are spotted with.
Citizens for Juvenile Justice argues against its usage, calling it “racially discriminatory and often ridden with errors.”
The terms of the grant stipulate that 10% of the funds must be “spent on supporting collaborations between state and local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
The city didn’t respond when asked whether it received grant funds in 2025 or 2026 through that program.
Mayor Michelle Wu has previously said that accepting the terms of the grant won’t violate the city’s Trust Act, which limits city cooperation with federal immigration agents.
Policy recommendations
Citizens for Juvenile Justice recommended a number of policies, including the expansion and passage of the PROTECT Act.
“There is no law that is protecting our courthouses,” said Chelsea Rep. Judith Garcia, co-sponsor of the PROTECT Act, said in March. “When you take a step back and you realize what we can be doing to make sure that within state parameters, we act and we stop these numbers from increasing.”
The group also says the Trial Court system should enact rules that limit ICE access and information sharing, and that the attorney general should review police policies to see if they comply with the Lunn decision.
A policy statement from the Executive Office of the Trial Court last May says that court officials can’t initiate communication with ICE agents, but must provide publicly available information to agents when asked.
The Trial Court system declined to comment for this story.
CFJJ also recommends the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission — which is responsible for setting training standards and certifying all police officers across the state — hold officers and departments accountable for violating information-sharing policies related to immigration.
