Mass. sheriff accuses ICE of trying to bully him into breaking the law

Local news

Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement after federal agents arrested a man who posted bail.

A Massachusetts mayor is highly critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying the agency is trying to intimidate him into breaking state and federal law.

Friction erupted between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux over a social media post made by federal officials last week. ICE’s office in Boston said it did Arrested A Honduran man in New Bedford has a variety of pending firearms-related charges.

In a Share follow In X, the agency blamed the Bristol County House of Corrections for releasing the man “without honoring an ICE detainer.” Federal officials attacked “sanctuary politicians” and accused them of allowing dangerous criminals to roam the streets.

Heroux said he became aware of the post after journalists contacted him for comment. He responded to ICE, saying that honoring a detainee would violate state and federal law.

“It’s very clear that what ICE was trying to do was intimidate me, bully me, or try to make me afraid that they would target me in this way,” Heroux told Boston.com. “But I will not tolerate this type of unprofessional behavior from another law enforcement organization. The law is on my side at this time. They are completely wrong in what they are asking me to do.”

ICE detainers are requests the agency makes when it determines that local law enforcement has detained an illegal immigrant. Through these detainees, ICE asks local authorities to hold detainees for longer periods until they can be transferred to the agency’s custody.

But compliance is not mandatory. In fact, Massachusetts law effectively prevents most local law enforcement officials from complying. The highest court in the country Reigned in 2017 Local law enforcement agencies do not have the authority to detain people solely on immigration detainees.

ICE still routinely houses detainees in local custody in Massachusetts. For example, Boston police ignored all 57 detention requests they received in 2025.

Local authorities can enter into 287(g) agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which authorize and permit local officers to perform certain immigration enforcement activities. The Massachusetts Department of Corrections maintains the only active 287(g) agreement in the state.

The Biden administration terminated the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office’s 287(g) contract in 2021. That came after then-Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey issued a scathing report that found the office violated the civil rights of federal immigration detainees.

Heroux cited a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision and a 2012 Supreme Court decision in defending his comments. Supreme Court decision, Arizona v. United Statesspecifies that state governments do not have the authority to enforce federal immigration law.

“What the public needs to know is that a detainer is a request, and it is a request for us to break the law, to break state law and federal law in the absence of a 287(g) contract,” he said.

Heroux has widely criticized the Trump administration, saying it violated citizens’ civil rights and failed to properly investigate incidents of excessive force. He lamented the loss of federal grant money, eliminating the jobs of 18 case workers who provided programs to inmates at the prison.

After the firing of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this year, Heroux said he hopes the change in leadership will make ICE act like a “mature and professional” law enforcement organization. He added that the latest incident proves that this did not happen.

“Even with new leadership following the firing of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, amateur hour remains at ICE,” he said in a statement.

Although ICE’s enforcement operations are not as highly visible as they were late last year and early this year, the agency is still working to increase arrest rates. More than 10,000 people were arrested across the country in the recent wave of protests. New York Times I mentioned.

He said Heroux sat with a local ICE official months ago, but the agency has not reached out to him directly regarding the recent release of the Honduran man.

He insists that the law is on his side.

“If they think I broke the law, they can sue me for it. Because we’ll win this 10 out of 10 times. The law is very clear on that,” Heroux said.

ICE spokespeople did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

The Honduran man, identified by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as Jose Raul Martinez Alvardo, has “pending charges of unlawful possession of a large-capacity firearm, unlawful possession of a large-capacity feeding device, resisting arrest, carrying a firearm without a license, and carrying a loaded firearm without a license,” according to ICE.

The man was identified in court documents as Jose Raul Martinez Alvarado. He faces six charges in New Bedford District Court and was scheduled to appear at a probable cause hearing on Wednesday.

New Bedford police arrested Martinez-Alvarado on June 7 after responding to an address on Viale Street “due to a report of an open 911 line with screaming heard in the background,” according to a police report.

Officers found several men arguing in an apartment “in disarray” with suspected cocaine nearby. They searched Martinez-Alvarado and found a gun on him. According to the report, he “actively resisted” arrest before his arrest.

Martinez-Alvarado was released on bail, Heroux said.

Heroux rejected the idea that illegal immigrants accused of crimes should be deported quickly. He said that when a person paying bail is deported, the victim and his family are denied justice.

Heroux called for a system in which deportation would occur after an individual had been convicted and served his sentence.

“If you deport someone, there will be no justice,” he said. “I only addressed the civil violation, and immigration violations are usually civil. That is often overlooked.”