Safe Communities Resources

Background

 

 

Massachusetts communities are adopting Safe Community Bylaws and Ordinances because immigration enforcement has shifted dramatically in recent years, moving away from the border and into everyday life in towns and cities. Across the country, federal policy under the current administration has expanded workplace raids, courthouse arrests, and violent enforcement actions, such as what happened in Minneapolis in January. In Massachusetts alone, more than 7,000 immigrants have been detained since the beginning of the Trump administration’s current term, and the vast majority had no criminal background. Our immigrant friends and neighbors are living in terror, never knowing if or when they might be torn away from their homes and communities.  

 

Immigration justice advocates are increasingly focused on the role of local and state systems in this process. Even when local police are not authorized to enforce immigration law directly, their routine practices, such as sharing information, contacting ICE, or facilitating transfers, can effectively enable federal enforcement. This kind of coordination raises serious concerns about due process, equal protection, and the erosion of trust in local institutions, especially when people can be drawn into the immigration system without a judicial warrant or meaningful local oversight.

 

As it stands, state law provides only partial protection. Local police cannot detain someone solely on a civil immigration detainer, but there are few clear limits on information sharing or cooperation. This creates a patchwork system in which local practices, rather than consistent law, determine whether residents are subject to federal enforcement.

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Recent incidents in Massachusetts show how these policies play out in practice. The Allston car wash raid in November 2025 was a highly visible example of aggressive enforcement, where workers were detained in a sweeping operation that advocates say lacked individualized suspicion and due process. Many of those detained were then processed through the Burlington ICE facility, a short-term holding site located in an office building. Reports have described people being held there for prolonged periods under harsh conditions, including sleeping on floors and lacking adequate access to food, hygiene, medical care, or legal counsel. These events have had a chilling effect across communities. People are less likely to report crimes, seek help, or even attend court when they fear that any interaction could lead to detention.

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At the same time, a new 2026 report commissioned by Citizens for Juvenile Justice shows that immigration enforcement in Massachusetts is not just driven by federal agents. In reality, it is deeply intertwined with local police. The report finds that local police, sheriffs, and courts routinely share information with ICE and act as “force multipliers” for federal enforcement.

 

Many police departments either allow or actively require communication with ICE. A review of departmental policies found that most police departments either permit collaboration with ICE or have no policy at all, leaving decisions to individual officers. The result is a system where people can become entangled in immigration enforcement through ordinary interactions with local institutions.

 

In 2025, voters at the Annual Town Meeting adopted a Safe Community Bylaw. This Bylaw reaffirmed: 1) that Town employees may not act as immigration enforcement officials, that the Town may not discriminate against residents and visitors, and that local law enforcement may not keep immigrants in police custody based on an ICE request without a judicial warrant.

 

Earlier policies were not designed for a system in which surveillance, data sharing, and local and federal coordination are widespread. A modern bylaw can establish clear and enforceable boundaries. It can limit the use of local resources for civil immigration enforcement, restrict unnecessary information sharing, and ensure that all residents can safely access schools, police, healthcare, and town services. At its core, this is about maintaining public safety and trust. When people fear that any interaction with local government could lead to detention or deportation, the entire community is less safe.

 

Given that the landscape of ICE enforcement in Massachusetts has become much more complex, a Citizens Petition proposed a new Bylaw, which was successfully approved by Shutesbury voters at the May 9, 2026, Annual Town Meeting. 

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Immigration Justice Advocacy Organizations

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Massachusetts Immigration and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition

ACLU of Massachusetts

LUCE Mass Immigrant Justice Network

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Western Mass Asylum Support Network (WMASN)

Western Mass Immigration Legislative Advocacy Network (WMILAN)

Pioneer Valley Workers Center

BIJAN and Beyond Bond Legal Defense Fund

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Indivisible.org

Indivisible Mass Coalition (Immigration Justice Action Team)