Congressional committee demands records, information on Boston's sanctuary city policies

Tim Dunn, Boston Herald on May 27, 2026

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The House Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Chair and Republican Congressman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has sent letters to Boston’s law enforcement leaders demanding documents and information on the city’s sanctuary policies as the Trump administration continues its nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration.

The letters by Jordan and Republican Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Calif., were each sent to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden, and embattled Suffolk Sheriff Steven Thompkins as the Judiciary Committee conducts oversight of “state and local jurisdictions that endanger American communities through their refusal to cooperate with federal immigration officials.”

Along with Boston, Jordan’s office tells the Boston Herald that similar letters have been sent to other self-declared sanctuary cities, including Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and others.

In the letters, Jordan and McClintock said each of Boston’s law enforcement entities refused to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and how Boston’s immigration-related policies “prioritize criminal and illegal aliens over American citizens and threaten public safety.”

The Committee is requesting that Cox, Hayden and Thompkins provide documents related to the city’s sanctuary policies by June 10.

Boston Police Department

From the Boston Police Department, the committee is requesting Cox provide the number of ICE detainers BPD has received and has declined to honor since Jan. 1, 2022, including the criminal histories of non-U.S. citizens who were the subject of said detainers.

This comes after the Herald reported that Boston Police ignored 167 ICE detainer requests in 2025, a substantial difference from the mere 57 originally reported by Cox. These ignored detainers included many criminals wanted on serious and violent charges.

“Boston’s pro-illegal alien policies ensure dangerous criminals are released onto Boston streets and free to reoffend,” the letter to Cox stated, calling out city officials for a lack of transparency. “Although you claimed the number of declined detainers was 57, the Boston City Council voted earlier this year to keep the full detainer-related information hidden from the public. Boston officials’ lack of transparency also means that the criminal histories of the aliens’ for whom the detainers were lodged remain shrouded in secrecy.”

The Committee is also requesting all communications the department has had with ICE and all documents and communications regarding immigration-related policies between the Police Department, the Sheriff’s Department, the district attorney’s office and Mayor Michelle Wu’s office.

Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office

The Committee is asking Hayden to provide similar information, as well as all documents and information related to the Suffolk DA’s policies, training procedures and bond policies related to illegal immigrants since Jan. 1, 2022. It is also asking Hayden to provide records on active and closed cases in which his office considered immigration collateral consequences, including where a defendant was authorized to replead or had a conviction reduced or vacated.

Jordan and McClintock also bashed Hayden for continuing the anti-immigration enforcement policies of his predecessor, disgraced former DA Rachel Rollins, who is now running for reelection to reclaim her DA title.

“Your predecessor required prosecutors in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office to ‘investigate, review and resolve each case with justice in mind' and 'remedy outcomes that are inconsistent with this mission.’ In doing so, she discussed what she described as the 'extreme and unjust collateral consequences' of federal immigration law and questioned why foreign nationals in the United States should face long-term immigration consequences for their criminal activity,” the lawmakers said in the letter.

“You committed to continuing these policies, stating that your office would consider immigration consequences as part of the prosecution decision and institute steps to avoid extreme immigration penalties including deportation,” they said.

Suffolk Sheriff’s Department

Finally, the Committee is requesting that Thompkins, who is facing federal extortion charges, provide documents and communications on the department’s policies related to immigration enforcement as well as the total number of ICE detainer requests it has received since Jan. 1, 2022.

“For years, SCSD has not complied with ICE detainers, with your office making clear that ‘(i)n no instance does (SCSD) hold anyone longer than their sentence prescribes, or past the time that it takes for them to post bail, based on the existence of a detainer.’" In 2019, SCSD also “ended its contract to hold ICE detainees,” Jordan and McClintock said. “Nonetheless, SCSD has maintained at least some communication with ICE about foreign nationals in its custody.”

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