Berkshire County — According to the department’s post on X (formerly known as Twitter), as of January 23, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) arrested 538 individuals and rounded up another 373 detainers under the new federal government administration that began serving only three days prior. But the local response is stalwart, with the Berkshire County District Attorney’s (DA) Office stating it will never proactively engage ICE in any situation.
According to Julia Sabourin, chief of operations for the District Attorney’s Office, the office won’t reach out to the federal agency even with knowledge of a person’s undocumented status and will never ask about the citizenship status of any individual. Additionally, she said the DA’s office isn’t notified if an ICE event will be occurring ahead of the incident.
“The Berkshire District Attorney’s Office does not report individuals to ICE,” the department provided in a statement to The Berkshire Edge. “Furthermore, the District Attorney’s Office does not inquire about an individual’s citizenship status. The prosecution of perpetrators ought to be left to local law enforcement to ensure justice is preserved for all parties. When ICE inserts itself in the process, justice on behalf of victims cannot be served.”
Dan Sheridan, deputy superintendent and general counsel at the Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed the department doesn’t have officers serving under a federal program in which state and local law enforcement personnel are sworn to enforce immigration laws under the direction of ICE, with that practice in accordance with Massachusetts’ Safe Communities Act. He told The Berkshire Edge his office can’t hold an individual solely on an ICE matter, as a detainer, unless a warrant was issued by a magistrate or judge to do so. Although ICE can request the department hold such an individual, Sheridan said that request isn’t a mandate to the local agency without a criminal offense pending or adjudicated.
On January 24, however, Boston 25 News reported that a bill was filed in the Massachusetts State House to close that “loophole” in the system, requiring local law enforcement agencies to instead hold “dangerous” illegal noncitizens sought by ICE beyond the time for them to lawfully be released.
For Berkshire Immigrant Center Executive Director Melissa Canavan, recent days have created fear in the eyes of many of her clients. The organization provides legal services pertaining to immigration, citizenship preparation classes, and local resources for housing, healthcare, and food insecurity.
Although the Trump administration began its new immigration policies this week, Canavan said their work has remained the same—pursuing legal pathways for their clients—but remarked on the reaction of their clients who have been impacted. “We just have to navigate all the changes that are going to potentially affect how we file on behalf of individuals,” she said. “But in terms of the primary change, there’s fear, there’s anxiety, there’s uncertainty for a lot of the people that we help and a lot of the people that other organizations that support immigrants are helping. They don’t know how these policies and changes are going to affect them.”
Canavan noted the speculation surrounding those policies regionally, statewide, and nationally. “The truth is, within the administration we have, they are purposefully making it confusing and making it difficult to follow because of how quick things are being executed but also how things are changing,” she said.
Her staff is ensuring the center’s caseworkers are kept up to date with training, understanding the legal changes occurring to be able to help clients navigate the system.
“We have people who are citizens, and they are concerned,” Canavan said of the individuals themselves or their family members. “You have an executive order that is essentially trying to strip away birthright citizenship.” Birthright citizenship falls under the United States Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment and guarantees that any person born in the U.S. or its territories is a citizen. With that principle in question, Canavan said that someone who is a U.S. citizen is now concerned or fearful that their citizenship may suddenly no longer be a right.
The fast changes taking place in federal immigration policies point to schools and churches no longer serving as safe harbors, she said. “Even the securities that were in place may not be there anymore,” Canavan said. “When it comes down to it, we’re talking about people’s livelihood.”
Without knowing where to turn, she said Berkshire Immigrant Center is doing its best to create “a trusting space” to help clients with their individual circumstances. The organization holds presentations on what rights immigrants have concerning their legal status and cited an umbrella group of various agencies acting as support, Berkshire Alliance to Support the Immigrant Community (BASIC). The Berkshire Edge reached out to BASIC for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Canavan advises immigrants to make sure they prepare a packet with important documents as well as contact information in the event of an emergency, including their children’s schools and the name of an attorney. “It’s having a family preparedness plan in place,” she said.
Berkshire Immigrant Center doesn’t accept federal funds at this time and Canavan guarantees the confidentiality of their clients.
“The vibrancy of what our immigrant community brings to this region has already impacted us positively,” she said. “I would hate for us to lose that aspect of who Berkshire County is.”
In the last fiscal year, Berkshire Immigrant Center served more than 900 individuals, with most of those residents of Berkshire County, although their clients have also come from neighboring states. As of January 24, the organization is booking their appointments for March, two months out, but Canavan said that caseload didn’t sharply increase this week as the demand for the center’s services has remained constant. “This isn’t new,” she said. “This community has been coming together to help support immigrants even prior to these changes.”
Attempts to contact the Boston Field Office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office were not returned by press time.