Boston City Council hearing calls for expanding Trust Act beyond policing to schools and clinics

BOSTON — March 10, 2025 — Boston City Council hears calls to expand the Trust Act to schools, hospitals, and churches amid growing immigrant fear. The Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, chaired by at-large Councilor Henry Santana, convened a listening hearing March 10 on Docket No. 0414, sponsored by Councilors Julia M. Mejia, Ruthzee Louijeune, and Enrique J. Pepén, to audit the 2014 ordinance's implementation. Policy scholar Dr. Nina Estrella-Luna warned that the act's references to federal "aggravated felony" definitions could inadvertently authorize police cooperation with ICE over state-legal marijuana delivery and minor offenses, urging the council to add more specific language. Retired Boston Public Schools principal Suzanne Lee and pediatrician Dr. Fridney Polanco Walters testified that fear is keeping children from classrooms and patients from clinics. Councilor Edward M. Flynn flagged an unresolved discrepancy between BPD's reported 15 civil immigration detainer requests for 2024 and ICE's figure of approximately 198, a gap he said a separate hearing order he filed will pursue. Multiple panelists called for sharply increased funding to the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement, noting that current legal consultations run just 15 minutes per appointment.