Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 signed an executive order on Thursday that bans federal immigration enforcement activities on all city-owned property. This move joins a growing number of Greater Boston communities trying to limit these operations, which officials say can threaten public safety.
The order forbids the use of any city-controlled land-like parking lots, parks, and open spaces-as a place for federal immigration agents to set up staging areas, processing centers, or bases for their work.
This announcement comes during a time when federal immigration enforcement tactics are getting more national attention. Other members of the Metro Mayors Coalition, such as Boston, Chelsea, Lynn, Newton, and Somerville, have already put similar policies in place.
“The federal tactics we have seen around the country have created fear, mistrust, and real risks to public safety,” Huang said in a press release. “We do not control federal policy, but we will stand up for our community and act to ensure transparency and accountability for federal actions.”
The city plans to identify spots they think “could be used” by immigration agents and put up signs making it clear that these places are city property and off-limits under this order.
“City-owned and City-controlled property is not available to the general public for similar activities; civil immigration enforcement operations are not an exception,” the order states.
Additionally, Cambridge will offer template signs for private property owners who want to prevent their locations from being used for immigration enforcement.
The new order also includes rules about how the Cambridge Police Department should behave during any immigration enforcement actions. One rule requires releasing body-cam or surveillance videos if there’s “violence or property damage” caused by federal agents.
The order encourages residents who think they’ve seen Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity to report it to CPD. It also says police officers must respond when called about such incidents and step in if they see officials using unnecessary or excessive force.
“Calling 9-1-1 is an appropriate response to any attempts by unidentifiable individuals, including those who claim to be federal officials but have not provided identification, to enter a private residence without a warrant,” the document reads.
This directive is the strongest set of guidelines so far from Cambridge limiting immigration enforcement. It builds on the Welcoming Community Ordinance first passed in 2020.
That ordinance prevents local law enforcement from cooperating voluntarily with federal agencies. In August it was updated specifically so CPD couldn’t assist with any immigration enforcement within Cambridge.
“Standing with the Metro Mayors Coalition and reaffirming our Welcoming Community, Cambridge is drawing a clear line: our responsibility is to protect people, and we will use every lawful tool available to hold federal actors accountable when their actions undermine public safety and cause harm,” Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said in the release.
City leaders also publicly criticized ICE’s recent actions in Minnesota-including last week’s fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Like many sanctuary cities nationwide, Cambridge has faced sharp criticism from the Trump administration accusing it of “deliberately obstructing” immigration efforts because of this ordinance.
The executive order repeats that CPD “shall not participate in federal civil immigration enforcement operations” while emphasizing their duty to keep everyone safe during such events.
It further clarifies that Cambridge officers must step in if they witness excessive force by any law enforcement official:You can keep going after this point? Because right now it’s just repeated
. I’ll fix it.
“If any CPD officer observes any law enforcement official using or attempting to use physical force, including deadly force, beyond that which is necessary or objectively reasonable based on the totality of circumstances, the CPD officer shall intervene,” according to the order.
The directive ends by saying nothing here should be taken as blocking lawful civil immigration work or telling police officers do anything that might escalate things with federal agents or cause harm.
Federal immigrant enforcement stepped up across Greater Boston last year when officers ran a multi-week operation across Massachusetts leading to over 1 ,000 arrests. Since then , ICE has been spotted occasionally around Boston area cities , though nothing as big has happened recently.
– Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached atshawnb@media. mit. eduand on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @Shawn Boehmer.
– Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached atcamichal@media. mit. edu.
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