BOSTON — Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said the department ignored all 57 immigration detainer requests issued by federal authorities last year, citing a city law that shields noncitizens from deportation under certain circumstances.

Cox attributed the police department’s non-compliance to the Boston Trust Act, which prohibits BPD and other city departments from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on civil immigration detainers, in a letter he sent to the city clerk that was filed with the City Council on Monday.

“The Boston Police Department is dedicated to working in partnership with the community to fight crime, reduce fear and improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Cox wrote. “Our mission is community policing.

“To that end, the department remains committed to complying with the Boston Trust Act, as well as state law, and to building and strengthening relationships and trust with all our communities across the city.

“Boston’s immigrant communities should feel safe in reporting crime and quality of life issues to the department and in proactively engaging with all members of the Boston Police Department,” the police commissioner added.

The Trust Act was first enacted in 2014 and enshrines the city’s sanctuary status. It prohibits local cooperation with federal authorities on civil matters, but still allows for cooperation with ICE in criminal matters like human trafficking, child exploitation, drug and weapons trafficking, and cybercrimes, per city officials.

The city’s sanctuary law is the subject of a federal lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the City of Boston last year.

Boston’s tendency to ignore federal civil detainer requests due to the Trust Act led to a squabble between ICE and Boston Police last year that centered around a discrepancy in how many detainer requests the respective sides reported for 2024.

Cox reported last year that the police department refused to act on all 15 civil immigration detainer requests received in 2024. ICE officials quickly countered by saying that they had issued 198 detainer requests, some of which involved noncitizens who had been arrested by BPD for “egregious criminal activity.”

“Laws forcing municipal and state employees to ignore ICE requests for assistance do not protect the law-abiding community members,” ICE spokesperson Yolanda Choates said in a statement at the time. “The decision not to cooperate with ICE jeopardizes public safety and national security by thwarting ICE custody in a safe and secure environment.”

Boston Police officials acknowledged that their annual reporting data may have skewed lower than what the feds reported. BPD attributed the discrepancy to communication issues stemming from requests that were faxed to district stations by ICE, rather than sent to a central email address, as had been requested by BPD.

Cox, in his letter filed this week, said the police department issued a special order last February “to clarify and amend procedures to follow upon receipt of a civil detainer request.”

“In an effort to address concerns regarding the total number of civil detainer requests reported annually, the department established a dedicated fax number within the Operations Division solely for civil detainer requests, rather than receiving requests at individual booking stations,” Cox wrote.

Cox said the fax machine is monitored daily throughout the day, “and the appropriate district or booking station is notified upon receipt of a request.”

While Cox said ICE was notified of and asked to use the dedicated fax line, “only 28% of the detainer requests in 2025 came through the dedicated fax line as requested, while others were directed to individual booking stations via facsimile or directly to the Bureau of Field Services via email.”

Cox said the data he shared on last year’s detainer requests comprise the annual report the department is required to submit each year, per the requirements of the Boston Trust Act.

No individuals were detained last year by BPD nor transferred to ICE custody, and no cost reimbursements were received from the federal government, Cox wrote.

A civil immigration detainer is a request from ICE that asks a federal, state or local law enforcement agency, including jails, prisons or other confinement facilities, to notify the requesting agency as early as possible before they release a removable noncitizen and hold the noncitizen for up to an additional 48 hours.

This allows ICE time to take custody of those individuals in accordance with federal immigration law, the ICE website states.

ICE says it lodges immigration detainers after officers or agents establish probable cause to believe that a noncitizen is removable under federal immigration law, typically after a court has convicted them of one or more crimes and when the noncitizen poses a public safety or national security threat.

Cox wrote that “the Trust Act prohibits a law enforcement official from detaining an individual solely on the basis of a civil immigration detainer request after the individual is eligible for release from custody, unless ICE has a criminal warrant issued by a judicial officer for the individual.”

“State law also prohibits detaining individuals solely on the basis of an immigration detainer who are otherwise eligible for release,” Cox wrote.

Mayor Michelle Wu’s office, the Boston Police Department and ICE did not respond to the Herald’s requests for comment.

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