With Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descending on Maine this month, advocates in Massachusetts say they see the operation as a preview of what awaits the Bay State.
In less than a week, ICE detained more than 200 people statewide in Maine in what the agency dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day.”
Sarang Sekhavat, chief of staff for the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said his organization is particularly on edge given the mobilization it has seen throughout Massachusetts in recent weeks.
That mobilization included the delivery of more than a dozen Dodge SUVs to the ICE Boston Field Office in Burlington earlier this month.
“We are expecting it … it just feels like a matter of time before we see a surge here,” Sekhavat said. “(New England) is a very regional community … People are crossing state borders so much more often around here than they do in a lot of other places.”
New ICE vehicles prompt concerns for a 3rd surge
Similar vehicle deliveries in other communities have been reported to MIRA in recent weeks — and because Boston’s field office serves all six New England states, MIRA believes the vehicles delivered in the state this month were likely used in the recent operation in Maine.
The recent mobilization by ICE in Massachusetts is driven in part by funding from the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Passed in July 2025, the bill allocated $170 billion to U.S. federal immigration enforcement agencies, including ICE and Border Patrol. About $30 billion alone was allocated to detain and deport more immigrants, more quickly, according to the National Immigration Law Center.
In response to a MassLive inquiry about whether the vehicle delivery was indicative of a planned surge in Massachusetts, an agency spokesperson said ICE was “actively working to expand resources.”
“Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S.,” the spokesperson said, crediting the “Big Beautiful Bill” for enabling the agency to hire 10,000 new officers and provide “much-needed vehicles and other supporting equipment.”
Already, Massachusetts saw two distinct enforcement surges from ICE in 2025, which the agency branded “Operation: Patriot” and “Operation: Patriot 2.0.” Combined, ICE said, those sweeps resulted in around 3,000 arrests statewide. The first surge took place in May last year, and the second surge took in September, officials said.
A third major push from ICE would be a sharper escalation from what Massachusetts is seeing now, Sekhavat said. At the moment, ICE appears to be making its actions more visible — and violent, other advocates report — without putting more officers on the street.
If the agency were to place a greater focus on enforcement in Massachusetts, Sekhavat would expect “bringing in a whole bunch more ICE officers … to be patrolling the streets.”
Activity at Mass. ICE facility
At the Burlington ICE facility, MassLive reporters observed roughly two dozen Dodge SUVs parked in the back of the sprawling parking lot that encircles the building. None had license plates and were still covered in snow. The rest of the lot was full of cars that seemed to be in regular use and were not parked by vehicle make or model.
Each Wednesday, the protest group “Bearing Witness” — which captured the vehicle delivery on video at the start of January — holds a vigil and march outside the facility.
On Jan. 21, about 100 protesters gathered in frigid conditions. The group has held similar demonstrations every week since April 2025.
Protesters at the facility said they typically see “black vans unloading detainees,” along with “sheriff vans” and “white vans” — which they believe transport detainees to the Plymouth County Correctional Facility and Hanscom Air Force Base, respectively, said group member Carter Chamberlain, 38.
Peak activity at the facility is usually Tuesday and Friday mornings, Chamberlain said — but given the recent “huge shipment of other white vehicles,” the group expects “their tactics might be changing soon,” he said.
“(ICE) started having people come earlier… beyond cars, they’re also trying to adjust their tactics because they don’t want so many people witnessing the comings and goings,” said member Linda Duchin. She and her husband, Jay Duchin, have been standing outside the facility weekly for about six months.
During those months, the delivery of vehicles captured on video in January is the only time Bearing Witness has documented anything of the sort, further driving fears of a forthcoming surge in Massachusetts.
Still, the current shows of force are designed as much for public consumption as for enforcement, Sekhavat said, echoing state leaders.
“What we have seen from ICE and from the administration really isn’t about public safety, it’s about political theater,” Mass. Gov Maura Healey said in September, following reports of a surge in the Bay State. “It’s about a political power grab and an attempt to intimidate.”
And while no one knows when — or if — another large-scale operation will hit Massachusetts, organizers are acting as if it’s inevitable, Sekhavat said.
“You don’t wait for the surge to get ready,” he said.
