Massachusetts Communities Revise Police Policies on Immigration Enforcement

Across Massachusetts, communities are grappling with how local police should respond when federal immigration agents arrive, a question that has grown urgent following allegations of excessive force, unlawful detention, and civil rights violations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Recent ICE operations in Massachusetts have generated reports of assaults, mistaken arrests of U.S. citizens, detention of children, courthouse arrests, and two fatal shootings. A December 2025 letter from Free Speech for People to the state attorney general identified numerous incidents it says involved potential violations of state criminal law, state civil rights protections, or constitutional guarantees.

The debate surfaced in Amherst on June 8 when the Town Council discussed the town manager's executive order and the council's February 2026 resolution on federal immigration enforcement. Police Chief Gabe Ting was asked about an Amherst Police Department policy from 2020 that called for nonmandatory communication and collaboration with ICE, including inquiring about immigration status and notifying ICE when immigrants are in police custody. Questions remain about the current status of that policy and how it aligns with the 2017 Amherst Sanctuary Bylaw.

Dozens of Massachusetts communities, including Greenfield, Northampton, South Hadley, Amherst, Pelham, and Shutesbury, have adopted Safe Community or Welcoming Community bylaws to limit local ICE cooperation and strengthen trust between immigrant communities and local government. Many were based on a 2019 model bylaw created by the ACLU of Massachusetts. However, the Amherst Town Council in February 2026 and the Northampton City Council in May 2026 have supplemented existing bylaws with resolutions, executive orders, and updated policies to address enforcement tactics that earlier bylaws did not anticipate.

The state legislature is considering passage of the Massachusetts PROTECT Act, with two versions adopted by the House and Senate and now before a joint conference committee. The ACLU of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition have advocated for the bill, which is expected to include boundaries on local police-ICE collaboration such as a ban on new 287(g) cooperation agreements. A final version is expected before the legislative session ends July 31.

A report released in April 2026 by Citizens for Juvenile Justice, titled ICE Out, documented local interaction with ICE across Massachusetts. Based on more than 90 public records requests, the report identified numerous formal and informal channels through which local agencies communicate and collaborate with ICE, including departmental policies, fingerprint-sharing following arrests, surveillance technologies, and courthouse practices. The report argues that these practices allow local agencies to function as force multipliers for federal immigration enforcement even without formal 287(g) agreements.