Mass. officials release 4 submissions to immigration agent misconduct portal

In response to a public records request, state officials issued four memos to ICE’s misconduct portal launched in March, but declined to release more records.

A spokesperson for Governor Maura Healey said: “We are reviewing and investigating these requests as they come in and will work with the Attorney General’s Office to release others when they are ready.”

The governor’s office declined to comment on the number of requests received through the portal, which was launched in mid-March to report possible illegal activity and misconduct by federal agents enforcing immigration law.

Healey’s office also did not respond to multiple inquiries about the number of applications received since March.

While referring the governor’s office as the “custodians” of submissions to the portal, Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office said some complaints could be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for review.

In response to the request for all submissions to the portal, the Attorney General’s Office shared four reports with Boston.com.

In one report, dated March 1, a lawful permanent resident said they were detained and interrogated by federal agents at Logan International Airport after returning from a trip abroad.

“I was unlawfully detained and interrogated for more than 12 hours, during which I received no food and was not allowed to make any phone calls,” wrote the person, whose personal information was withheld. “Although a thorough inspection of my property revealed no evidence of any illegal activity or prohibited substances, I remained in isolation for an excessive period of time – conduct I consider to be gross misconduct and a violation of my fundamental civil liberties.”

Immigration agents also took the person’s phone and it has not yet been returned, they wrote in the report.

On March 9, a person in Cohasset filed a report with the misconduct portal alerting state officials that armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had arrested a man. The author of the report asked animal control to come and help the man’s dog.

Another person reported ICE agents “swarming cars in the parking lot” at Corporation Beach in Dennis on March 14. The agents “were inspecting weapons and looking at maps,” the report said.

Another brief report said agents were near Needham High School on March 17. The person who filed the report wrote that the agents “molested a high school child.”

After the portal was launched, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson blamed “vilification” from politicians like Healey and Campbell for the increase in threats against federal agents.

Earlier this year, Healey introduced legislation that would ban ICE officers from working in schools, places of worship and hospitals in Massachusetts.

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime and more.