Sheriffs ask to loosen a new limit on notifying ICE, and a Boston lawsuit targets hidden detainee locations. Where the council's immigration items stand

Two immigration fights in Massachusetts this week touch people held or arrested in Boston.

The sheriffs' letter. On Oct. 22, 12 of the state's 14 sheriffs wrote to Gov. Maura Healey and Attorney General Andrea Campbell asking them to consider changing the PROTECT Act, WBUR reported. Healey signed the law on Aug. 5. It limits immigration enforcement at courthouses, schools and health care sites, Western Mass News reported. According to WBUR, it also broadly bars sheriffs from warning ICE before they release someone the agency wants to deport. The exception covers people who have served sentences for certain violent felonies, and it does not apply to people held before trial. The sheriffs asked to be allowed to notify ICE about people charged with violent crimes who face deportation orders.

The only two sheriffs who did not sign were Barnstable County's and Middlesex County's, State House News Service reported (via WWLP). That means the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, which runs the Nashua Street Jail and the South Bay House of Correction, was among the 12. In a follow-up letter, Massachusetts Sheriffs' Association president Patrick Cahillane, the Hampshire County sheriff, said the group had not meant for the issue to become partisan and that talks with the governor and attorney general were continuing. Healey stood by the law. She called ICE "a rogue agency" and said she would keep talking with the sheriffs, WBUR reported. The letter has also come up in the governor's race. We report only on the letter and the law.

The lawsuit. On Wednesday, four legal aid groups, including Greater Boston Legal Services, sued in federal court in Boston over an ICE change that hides the locations of detainees with final removal orders from the agency's online detainee locator, WBUR reported. The suit says the change affected more than 16,000 of the roughly 69,000 people in ICE custody as of last month, and that lawyers often can't find their clients. It argues the change was made without explanation, in violation of federal administrative law and the First Amendment, and asks a judge to block it. The Department of Homeland Security denied that detainees are being "disappeared" and said they can still make phone calls, according to WBUR.

What our records show

The council can't change state law or federal policy, but it has several immigration items of its own. Most are still in committee.

• City property. City Councilor Miniard Culpepper's ordinance would bar ICE from using city-owned or city-leased buildings, lots, garages and parks for civil immigration enforcement (docket 0266; text). It cites Healey's January executive order, which does the same for state property. All 13 councilors are sponsors. It went to the Committee on Government Operations on Feb. 4 and has waited 269 days.
• Trust Act audit. City Councilor Julia Mejia's order for a hearing to audit the 2014 Boston Trust Act, which limits the city's role in civil immigration enforcement, has eight sponsors (docket 0198). It was referred Jan. 28, 276 days ago. The same day, the council placed on file the police commissioner's required Trust Act report on immigration detainer results for 2025 (docket 0155).
• Economic effects. Culpepper's order on the economic effects of immigrant "fear flight" and federal enforcement, with 13 sponsors, has been in the Civil Rights, Racial Equity, and Immigrant Advancement Committee since Sept. 30 (docket 1850).
• Adopted resolutions. On Aug. 5, the council voted 12-0, with City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata absent, for City Councilor Enrique Pepén's emergency resolution opposing the leasing of parking spaces in Boston to ICE (docket 1588). In March, it adopted Culpepper's resolution opposing ICE staffing of TSA posts at Logan (docket 0702).
• Central booking. Culpepper's Oct. 21 order on the central booking agreement between Boston police and the Suffolk sheriff is in Public Safety. Under that 2023 agreement, the order says, the sheriff may hold adults arrested by Boston police until their first court appearance (docket 1965; order; our story).

What's next

The judge in the detainee locator case will take up the request to block the change. On Nov. 5, the state Senate plans to debate a supplemental budget that includes $244.8 million for sheriffs' budget shortfalls, WBUR reported. The council meets Nov. 4 at noon.