The bureaucratic tiff comes as immigration enforcement remains at the fore of pubic debate, and as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed mass deportations after he takes office later this month.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials disputed claims from the Boston Police Department that it refused 15 requests to detain people who faced deportation last year, saying police in fact denied nearly 200 such requests.

The Boston Police Department acknowledged that federal authorities may have issued a higher number of immigration detainer requests in 2024 than what was reported by the BPD commissioner, citing

The Boston Police Department did not fulfill 15 requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain people suspected of being undocumented immigrants in 2024.

ICE says it issued 198 detainer requests with the Boston Police Department last year. BPD Commissioner Michael Cox said there were only 15. The post How many ICE requests did Boston police receive in 2024?

Boston police say state and local laws prevent them from detaining a person solely based on immigration status.

BOSTON — Federal authorities said the Boston Police Department refused to act on 198 immigration detainer requests last year, far exceeding the 15 reported by BPD’s commissioner, while blasting the city for jeopardizing “public safety and national security.