The U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reduced activity in Cambridge, according to Cambridge Police Department’s (CPD) bi-annual report presented to City Council Monday night.
Between February and August of this year, CPD logged six interactions or potential interactions with ICE agents, none of which were in-person, and received no detainer requests from immigration officials.
This is less than half the activity recorded the six months prior. Between August of 2025 and February of 2026, 11 interactions with ICE were logged, four of which were in-person with ICE agents operating in Cambridge. CPD also received three detainer requests from ICE during this period, none of which were complied with due to Cambridge’s Welcoming Cities Ordinance, which forbids Cambridge police officers from providing information to federal immigration officials.
Of the six engagements since February with federal immigration enforcement, two were alerts from city staffers to CPD who thought they saw ICE agents on the street. One of the sightings was confirmed not to have been an ICE agent, the other was unconfirmed. Three communications were from ICE or Customs and Border Patrol officers asking about the whereabouts of individuals who had been arrested in Cambridge. The report confirmed that CPD officers did not provide any information to ICE to these requests.
The final call was from an ICE agent to a CPD officer asking about a couple whom they already had an address for that was undergoing the citizenship process — the CPD officer confirmed that there had been no dangerous incidents at their location. At Monday’s city council meeting, Councillor Ayah Al-Zubi reminded Police Commissioner Pauline Wells that this could inadvertently still be considered providing ICE with operational assistance.
“I could totally understand why that call might get answered on reflex, but [I] just want to acknowledge that it would be great for the department to treat that with the same mindfulness and caution,” al-Zubi said.
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