Needham board reviews draft policy limiting local cooperation with ICE after resident pleas

Needham’s Select Board spent the bulk of its March 24 meeting reviewing a proposed town policy intended to limit local participation in federal civil immigration enforcement and to clarify what residents should expect of local police.

The board’s vice chair, Kathy Dowd, walked members through draft clauses meant to codify current practice and to add specific prohibitions: officers would not initiate investigations solely on the basis of immigration status; the department would not enter into section 287(g) memoranda of understanding with ICE; officers would not extend detention based only on an ICE civil detainer; and the town manager would decline requests to use town property for immigration processing unless presented with a judicial warrant. The draft also requires the police to establish a process to notify a person in custody if an immigration detainer has been lodged for them.

“How we respond should not exceed what’s strictly necessary to comply with law and to preserve public safety,” Dowd said as she outlined the policy goals of protecting civil and constitutional rights while ensuring officers have clear guidance.

Police Chief John Schlittler told the board the department already follows many of the practices proposed in the draft and stressed legal constraints. He said officers must answer direct inquiries from federal authorities about whether someone is in custody because fingerprint records and FBI/DOJ systems typically generate those calls. “If the phone rings, we will answer,” he said, adding that intentionally refusing to answer could expose officers to legal risk.

Residents urged more aggressive limits on collaboration. Jody Rudy, an organizer with Needham Resists, asked the board to bar Needham Police from assisting federal immigration enforcement absent a judicial warrant, require officers to ensure agents present judicial warrants on private property, and designate polling places as ICE‑free zones. “We witnessed this winter the tragic outcomes of ICE agents violating the constitutional rights of Americans,” Rudy said, and asked the board to adopt explicit protections.

Dowd and the chief noted trade‑offs and legal boundaries. The draft references the 2017 Lund decision (which limits local reliance on immigration detainers) and emphasizes that the town may not obstruct federal officers. Town counsel said the policy aims to request identification and documentation from federal agents when there is advance notice of enforcement activity, while avoiding language that could be read as obstructive.

Board members pressed staff on practical questions: whether officers would be allowed to say “no comment” to ICE, how officers would handle calls from federal agents during the booking process, whether police would be positioned to protect polling places and what information the town can realistically expect to receive from federal authorities. Chief Schlittler said the department’s priority is preserving public safety and that specific responses would be situation dependent.

Dowd said the draft would, if adopted, require annual reporting to the board on the number of civil immigration detainer requests received, the number of detainees held pursuant to judicial criminal warrants, and the number of transfers to ICE custody.

The board did not vote on the policy at the meeting; members said they wanted to allow public feedback and further review before a vote at a subsequent meeting. The chair encouraged residents to submit written feedback while staff continue to refine the draft.