Though law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts have no formal agreements to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and some even prohibit it in non-criminal cases, it hasn’t stopped the extensive sharing of information with the federal agency, according to immigration advocates.
Members of a variety of legal and immigration organizations testified before the state Legislature on Monday about the ways they are struggling against mass deportations under President Donald Trump. Lawmakers from the Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights and Inclusion discussed measures the state can take to protect immigrants, but learned that law enforcement already provides a lot of help to immigration enforcement efforts.
“There’s this massive complex that we would probably like to think that as a state, we are not part of. And we are,” said David Albright, director of policy and advocacy at the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action. “It’s meant to be very opaque and confusing, and it’s meant to draw people in, get them out of Massachusetts as quickly as they possibly can, and keep them in that system and then get them out of the country.”…