On January 20, we mark one year since Donald Trump returned to office. For many people, that anniversary may feel abstract, something happening “out there” in Washington. But when it comes to immigration enforcement, the first year of this administration has made one thing painfully clear: what happens at the national level does not stay there. Massachusetts is not immune.
Across the country, we are seeing a sharp escalation in immigration enforcement and a renewed effort to pull local communities into ICE’s dragnet. States like Delaware and, most recently, Maine and New Jersey have responded by passing legislation that limits police cooperation with ICE. These states are recognizing a hard truth: when local police are used as an arm of federal immigration enforcement, trust breaks down, families are torn apart, and public safety suffers for everyone.
At the same time, the national numbers are staggering. More than 1,300 287(g) agreements that allow local law enforcement to act as ICE agents have been adopted across the country. These agreements blur the line between community policing and immigration enforcement, often with devastating consequences. Even without formal 287(g) agreements in place, Massachusetts has not been spared from the federal government’s escalation in enforcement. In our state alone, more than 9,000 people have been arrested by ICE acting on its own authority. Turning local police into immigration agents through 287g agreements would only expand this enforcement footprint and deepen the harm to our communities. These are not distant statistics; they represent neighbors, coworkers, parents, and children whose lives have been upended. But the impact of this federal approach isn’t limited to arrests or high-profile incidents. It is quietly reshaping daily life in communities across Massachusetts.
We’re also already seeing the chilling effects of stepped-up immigration enforcement across everyday life in Massachusetts. Health care providers in clinics and hospitals across the state report that immigrant families are increasingly skipping medical appointments, canceling health coverage, and delaying preventive care out of fear that ICE could access personal information or show up in medical settings. In our schools, educators and superintendents have had to explicitly reassure families that schools will not turn over students’ information or cooperate with immigration enforcement without a court order, because fear of ICE is leading some families to avoid school altogether. Advocates and physicians report a troubling increase in unreported crimes, particularly domestic violence, as immigrant survivors grow fearful that contacting police could expose them or their families to immigration enforcement. These chilling effects don’t just hurt immigrant communities. They undermine public health, education, and public safety for all of us.
We’ve already seen how this plays out in Massachusetts, from a Milford high school student on their way to volleyball practice detained, to a 13-year-old taken into federal custody after a school incident in Everett, to a workplace raid in Allston that ripped workers away from their jobs in broad daylight.
Massachusetts has not been silent in the face of these harms. Lawmakers have taken important steps, including advancing data privacy protections in the Senate to limit the sharing and misuse of personal information. The Commonwealth has also invested in a Legal Defense Fund to help immigrants facing deportation access legal representation, an essential safeguard in a system where having a lawyer can mean the difference between staying with your family and being permanently separated.
But these measures, while important, are not enough.
The human cost of unchecked ICE enforcement continues to grow. On December 7, an ICE agent murdered Renee Nicole Good. Last year was also the deadliest year on record for people in ICE detention, with 32 individuals dying while in custody. These are not isolated tragedies; they are the predictable outcomes of a system that operates with too little oversight and too much impunity. Thoughts and prayers are not enough. Massachusetts must act now to protect our communities.
What Massachusetts Must Do Now
To truly safeguard our communities, the Massachusetts Legislature must put clear guardrails in place:
- Ensure police do not assist ICE.
Massachusetts law enforcement must never assist ICE in civil immigration arrests—detaining people when no crime has been committed—or ask residents about their immigration status. When people are afraid to call 911, everyone is at risk. - Do not turn police into ICE agents.
ICE is aggressively pushing local departments nationwide to sign onto the 287(g) program, which deputizes local officers as federal immigration agents and even incentivizes high arrest numbers. Massachusetts must prohibit these agreements to keep local police focused on community safety, not deportation quotas. - Fund legal defense to fight deportations.
Passing the Immigrant Legal Defense Act would ensure that immigrants who cannot afford a private attorney still have a fair chance in immigration court. Due process should not depend on income.
One year into this administration, the warning signs are unmistakable. What is happening nationally is already reshaping life in Massachusetts. The question now is whether our leaders will act with the urgency this moment demands. Our communities cannot afford to wait.
