Boston Police Ignored 54 ICE Detainer Requests in 2026

The House Judiciary Committee released a report on November 2, 2026, detailing the friction between federal immigration authorities and local officials in Boston and Massachusetts. The document highlights specific instances where local police and courts declined to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, under state and city policies.

According to the report, Boston Police ignored 54 ICE detainer requests in the first ten months of 2026. The committee noted that the city has not transferred a single foreign national criminal to ICE custody based on a detainer since 2021. This figure follows a previous report indicating that the city ignored 167 requests in 2025, after initially claiming the number was 57.

The report identifies the Trust Act as a primary obstacle to cooperation. Signed into law in 2014 by former Mayor Marty Walsh and the Boston City Council, the act prohibits local police from working with ICE on civil immigration enforcement. The committee stated that this policy allows individuals with violent criminal histories to be released back into the city before federal agents can take custody.

Data collected by the committee shows that Boston law enforcement encountered undocumented immigrants from nine countries during the first ten months of 2026. These individuals were from Colombia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, China, Morocco, and Venezuela. The report notes that many of these individuals had prior criminal convictions.

The committee also examined the legal landscape in Massachusetts, pointing to the Protect Act recently signed by Governor Maura Healey. This law prevents state and local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE in nearly all capacities. The report cites a July 2017 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, known as the Lunn decision, which found that state courts lack the authority to hold an individual solely on a federal civil immigration detainer beyond their scheduled release time.

In response to the report, Mayor Michelle Wu’s office called the release an "empty attack" by House Republicans. A spokesperson for the mayor stated that a federal judge had previously thrown out a lawsuit by the Trump Justice Department against the city’s sanctuary policies. The office claimed that community policing and the Trust Act have helped make Boston the safest major city in the country.

The committee criticized Mayor Wu for describing ICE agents as "neo-Nazis" in 2025. The report referenced a Department of Homeland Security statistic indicating a 1,600 percent increase in assaults on ICE officials while they were on duty. The committee argued that such rhetoric and sanctuary policies expose the city to increased crime. It also mentioned a marriage fraud ring uncovered last month by the U.S. Attorney’s office, where the ringleader marketed Massachusetts as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.

The report concluded by noting that President Trump signed executive orders in 2025 directing the Justice Department and DHS to evaluate sanctuary jurisdictions for federal funding access. The Justice Department has since classified Massachusetts and Boston among 11 states, three counties, and 18 cities that obstruct federal immigration enforcement.