In the past year, the federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement Service (ICE), has had a presence in Acton, arresting, among others, people working at Sorrento’s Pizza, Dunkin’ on Main St., and residents of apartment complexes on Davis Road and Great Road.
In a recent interview, Acton Select Board Member Alissa Nicol said ICE targets by type of workplace such as restaurants and landscaping firms. She said they also stake out district courts to nab criminal suspects attending their court appearances, and will often take the detainees out of state in order to find more sympathetic judges, especially in states along the southern border. The arrests, according to Nicol, can have a chilling effect on local gatherings, for which she provided one example: A local clothing store in 2024 sold one hundred outfits to customers preparing for an annual ethnic festival and this year, only two, as people felt safer staying home.
Rights
What are Acton’s policies on enforcement? The Select Board’s immigration policy published October 30, 2017, is available at the Town website. It clarifies that the town does not ask anyone for their immigration status, and will not expend town resources to assist in federal detainers. But it will obey the orders of a judicial warrant, subpoena, or detainer. In a 2017 court case, Lunn vs. the Commonwealth, the Supreme Judicial Court, citing the Massachusetts Constitution, ruled that Massachusetts court officers currently have no power to arrest someone for a civil immigration detainer (for example, someone overstaying their visa), and deferred that authority to the legislature.
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