Warren, Markey say ICE’s ‘escalating aggression’ needs to be investigated

Local News

Massachusetts is seeing increased ICE activity, and the state’s congressional delegation wants answers.

Every member of Congress from Massachusetts signed on to a letter this week denouncing the “increasingly aggressive” tactics of ICE agents and calling for federal officials to investigate the immigration enforcement agency. 

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey led the effort, hoping to raise the alarm amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Despite promises to target those with criminal histories first, masked ICE agents across the country are increasingly sweeping up people without criminal histories in so-called “collateral arrests.” Democrats are attempting to capitalize on growing opposition to ICE enforcement, which is prompting ongoing demonstrations in cities across America. 

“ICE’s conduct has gone beyond simply enforcing the law against people convicted of violent crimes and has subjected community members who pose no threat, including parents and children, to seemingly needless harm. ICE’s escalating aggression is not making us safer,” the elected officials wrote. 

The seven-page letter, sent Wednesday to leaders at the Department of Homeland Security, outlines some of the specific examples that are most troubling the lawmakers. They referenced an Arizona incident where stun grenades were reportedly used to detain an unarmed person, incidents in New Bedford and Chelsea where ICE agents smashed the windows of vehicles containing their targets, and the case of Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk, whose arrest “at first appeared to be a kidnapping.”

ICE agents are becoming “more aggressive in the locations they target,” according to the lawmakers. Agents are waiting at courthouses to detain immigrants showing up for their hearings, and reports from outside Massachusetts indicate some agents may be conducting arrests in hospitals and outside schools, according to the letter. 

Massachusetts appears poised to remain one of the centers of the national debate over immigration enforcement under the Trump administration. ICE officials announced last week that nearly 1,500 people were detained across the state in a monthlong operation, and they promised to continue their efforts. 

White House officials are reportedly pressuring ICE to make 3,000 arrests a day nationwide. To meet these numbers, “collateral arrests” like that of a Milford teen could become more common. According to ICE’s own numbers, almost half of the people detained in the recent Massachusetts operation did not have criminal records. 

“The human toll of these tactics is immense. Families are being separated, and citizen and noncitizen community members alike are left living in fear,” the lawmakers wrote. 

Read the full letter below:

Warren/Markey ICE letter 6.11.25 by Ross Cristantiello on Scribd