Metropolis councilor Ed Flynn is looking for a ICE and Boston Police officers to satisfy at a listening to to clear up discrepancies within the variety of immigration detainers in 2024.
“The Boston Herald reported (Thursday) that there were 198 immigration detainer requests by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year, far higher than the 15 detainer requests communicated by the Boston Police Department in a letter to the City Clerk,” Councilor Ed Flynn wrote in a letter to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox. “I have concerns and questions about the discrepancy of this data.”
Boston Police reported that they’d obtained and rejected 15 civil immigration detainer requests from ICE in 2024 to the Metropolis Clerk, whereas ICE officers stated they’d requested the custody switch of 198 people after they have been arrested by BPD in the course of the yr, as reported by the Herald.
The order requests a “hearing to discuss the 2024 detainer requests in the City of Boston.” BPD representatives are “invited to attend,” the order states.
Within the letter to Cox, Flynn notes the felony prices levied towards the individuals ICE requested custody over included armed theft, assault to homicide, fentanyl, cocaine and heroin distribution, and different crimes.
“It is critical that the Boston Police Department maintains a positive and respectful working relationship with federal law enforcement partners,” Flynn argued within the letter. “When someone commits a crime, regardless of immigration status, we can’t stand in the way of justice for a victim or respect for the rule of law and society.”
Boston Police didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon the listening to order Sunday.
The division, in a response to the Herald late final week, acknowledged the discrepancy in numbers and attributed the difficulty to fax communications despatched to particular person stations, and different components.
“In January 2023, BPD asked that ICE stop sending detainer requests solely via fax to district stations, and also send them to a central email address,” stated BPD spokesperson Mariellen Burns in an announcement. “To date, ICE has not used the email address. BPD will continue to work with local authorities to establish a better means of communication regarding civil detainer requests to comply with annual reporting requirements.”
Cox beforehand wrote in a letter to the Metropolis Clerk relating to the 15 detainer requests that BPD “remains committed to complying with the Boston Trust Act,” a 2014 metropolis regulation which prevents native officers from cooperating with federal authorities in detaining immigrants on civil warrants.
“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,” Cox wrote on the time.
Todd Lyons, ICE assistant director of discipline operations, stated Sunday he has not spoken with Cox or any consultant of BPD management and said the division is “stuck with the narrative set by city officials that ICE is bad.”
“I hope BPD leadership talks to the local ERO Boston leaders to learn how ICE can be a viable law enforcement partner to combat crime in the city,” Lyons stated in an announcement to the Herald.
The listening to order is about to be filed with the Metropolis Council on Jan. 15.
