A number of municipalities are preparing for President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to follow through on plans to deport immigrants of varying statuses.

Boston and Chelsea were among the first to consider bolstering existing ordinances or introducing new efforts to protect migrants after Trump’s re-election. Natick just approved its own policy.

“Massachusetts cities and towns are stepping up to the plate to protect their communities by passing new policies or by reaffirming all policies against voluntary collaboration with immigration,” said Laura Rotolo, field director for the ACLU of Massachusetts.

In addition to expressing welcome or support for immigrants, many of the policies contain provisions that ban local police from inquiring into the immigration status of individuals they encounter, require them to treat people equally despite immigration status, limit information that that can be shared with federal agencies, and prohibit local law enforcement agencies from deputizing officers to serve as federal immigration enforcement officers.

Some communities with these protections call themselves sanctuary cities. Others refer to their policies as “sanctuary-aligned,” or use phrases like “safe communities” or “safe haven.”

“I think it’s one thing to deem yourself a sanctuary city, and it’s another thing to implement the policies that actually have the impact and have the result of protecting immigrant communities,” said Heather Arroyo, senior immigration attorney for Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can perform two types of arrests: civil, or picking up undocumented people in the community; and custodial, which entails arresting immigrants from another law enforcement entity, like people who have just finished serving time in a county jail. During ICE’s fiscal year in 2018, nearly 70% of all ICE arrests were custodial arrests, and nearly half of those custodial arrests were made in local jails. Existing municipal plans primarily address civil enforcement, although they can influence custodial arrests if there’s a jail or courthouse in the area.

History

A few Massachusetts cities and towns have had these policies on the books for years, including Cambridge (1985), Somerville (1987) and Boston (2014). But 49 municipalities enacted protections during the first Trump administration, according to a 2023 report from Northeastern University.

In Natick — after more than two years of meetings with residents, police and local leaders — the select board recently passed a policy with provisions instructing town employees on state and federal law with regard to asking for documentation.

Rotolo from the ACLU of Massachusetts said for all these municipalities, it’s important to publicize how these policies work. “So everyone knows that the local police will not collaborate with ICE, that the local schools won’t be turning over students. And that’s both to reassure the community and to have a statement of values on the record as well,” she said.

Some have unusual caveats. In Belmont, the safe community policy prohibits police officers from “detain[ing] persons solely to investigate their immigration status,” but allows for the department to keep someone in custody if they received a detainer request “for sufficient time to bring to the attention of the court officials responsible for decisions upon bail.”

In Greenfield, an executive order states the police department is prohibited from authorizing a 287(g) agreement, or a contacting agreement with its local holding facilities with ICE, without express permission of the mayor. The ACLU of Mass. said the city is looking into “strengthening” its policy.

Brookline doesn’t allow resources from its police department to be used by ICE, “except incidental use, such as fingerprints, that may be acquired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other federal agencies in the ordinary course of the Department’s operations.”

There is a renewed interest in passing the statewide Massachusetts Safe Communities Act, a bill that, if passed, would impose limit state and local law enforcement officers’ participation in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The effort has failed in at least four legislative sessions.

The original would have barred any Massachusetts law enforcement from “providing agents from the Department of Homeland Security with “access to booking lists or information regarding the incarceration status or release date of a person in custody, unless such a person is serving a sentence for a serious violent felony,”

At least six municipalities issued policies that contain a Safe Communities Act Provision, using language from the original Safe Communities Act: Lexington, Lincoln, New Salem, Northampton, Pelham, and Westhampton.

Upcoming changes 

Many cities have recently “reaffirmed” their policies. Some have further clarified or expanded protections, or are considering doing so.

For example, there is interest in making adjustments to the Boston Trust Act among the Boston City Council. The city is among at least 17 municipalities that have exceptions to the rule of sharing information with ICE. The Boston Trust Act says local police will cooperate with ICE on certain matters, such as cases of human trafficking.

“I think that there are ways in which we could clarify our exceptions for enforcement cooperation,” said City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune in an interview. “How do we know that they’re [ICE] not really, you know, that they wouldn’t really mask something that really is just about a civil deportation as as as a criminal matter or something else?”

She said clarifications on what the city is willing to work with the federal government on, strengthening protections against civil detainers, expanding definitions and privacy exceptions are all on the table.

“With respect to the civil deportations, and we’ve all heard of the incoming administration’s desire to get involved in mass deportations, that’s not something that the Boston Police Department will be involved in,” said Louijeune.

Arroyo shared a story of how deportations have continued to occur after the passage of the Boston Trust Act. She had a client placed on a gang database through the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which the local police department is part of. Though his name was later removed from the database, it was too late. “We submitted evidence to show that he had been removed from the gang database. However, the evidence that was already introduced into court alleging that he was a gang member was still used to deport him,” she said. “The harm is really real, and it’s been happening since the Trust Act has been in place in Boston.”

Other local governments are making moves and warily keeping tabs on the incoming administration.

Chelsea has had a sanctuary city resolution since 2007, and in 2017, the school committee passed a “safe haven” policy. Sarah Neville, a school committee member, recently proposed that Chelsea Public Schools go on record as a “sanctuary district,” in which school personnel would not voluntarily cooperate with immigration enforcement.

Her new resolution also calls upon the the city, funders, and the state to provide public schools with support in the event the Trump administration cuts funding for sanctuary cities or the Department of Education “attaches strings” to federal grants, “that would require us to go against our values of not working with ICE,” she said. Neville’s idea is tabled for further community discussion and legal review.

In Somerville, a 2018 ordinance bans ICE access to local facilities, but has the exception of a judicial warrant or court order. The city is currently focused on improving community education in preparation for federal immigration action through “know your rights” sessions. Part of that is helping families create contingency plans for guardianship of their children if a parent is deported.

“Our police work with all federal agencies on criminal cases, but will not detain or share information based on immigration status,” said Mayor Katjana Ballantyne in a statement.

Somerville is looking at their ordinance in a committee to see whether it can be strengthened or updated, according to the ACLU of Massachusetts.

Amherst just reaffirmed its 2017 policy.

“The Town’s reaffirmation of its commitment to be welcoming and inclusive community is a reflection of the values of its community members,” said Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman. He said the town was made aware of an ICE action that resulted in residents being taken into custody in the nearby community of Northampton, spurring action to reaffirm their policy.

Does it work? 

Authors of the Northeastern University School of Law report note evidence that sanctuary policies worked during the first Trump administration, despite his first campaign’s promises.

“The deportation rate during his administration fell well short of peak levels set during the Bush and early Obama administrations,” report authors wrote.

The Migration Policy Institute attributes this shortfall to sanctuary policies, noting that beyond resource limitations controlled by Congress, “the most important constraint [on deportations] lies in the limits on ICE cooperation imposed by growing numbers of states and localities that have large foreign-born populations.” Another study found that certain sanctuary policies reduced deportations of individuals during the Trump administration nationwide, with no criminal convictions by over half.