U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says its Boston office arrested 82 people during a three-day targeted immigration enforcement operation in southeastern Massachusetts during the week of September 21, in a news release dated Monday, October 19.

ICE described those arrested as people living in the country illegally, and said several of them had been released from jail by what it called sanctuary jurisdictions that refused to honour ICE immigration detainers. The agency said many of those arrested have criminal histories that include charges such as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, possession of child sexual abuse material, extortion by threat of injury, strangulation or suffocation, driving under the influence, and larceny. Those are charges and histories as listed by ICE; where a person has been arrested rather than convicted, the charges are accusations and the person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The release names seven of the 82 — three from Brazil and one each from Portugal, Ecuador, Honduras and Haiti, according to South Coast 360's reading of the release. South Coast 360 reported that ICE said four of the seven had been convicted of at least one offence, and that the other three had been arrested on charges. Awaaz Punjab is not naming the seven, because the release gives no ages, hometowns, courts or case numbers that could be checked in a court record, and some entries involve charges where a victim could be identified.

"Time and time again, sanctuary politicians in Massachusetts have made the dumbfounding choice to prioritize dangerous criminal illegal aliens rather than their law-abiding American citizens," acting ICE Boston Field Office Director Joseph Sher said in the release. Sher named the state's Protect Act as an example of what he called "embarrassingly performative legislation," and said ERO Boston would continue its work. ICE credited President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin in the release, and thanked the U.S. Coast Guard for its help during the operation.

The agency's account leaves open questions, South Coast 360 noted in its October 20 reporting. The release does not name the cities or towns where the arrests were made, does not give the dates of the three days, and does not say how many of the 82 have a criminal conviction. TNND reporting, carried by Europe Says, said the operation began on September 21 and focused on New Bedford, Fall River and surrounding communities.

That September week, local leaders spoke publicly about ICE arrests in their cities, and it is not clear from the release whether those arrests are among the 82. New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said in a statement on September 22 that ICE had arrested at least eight people in the city the day before and that there was no indication any of them had a criminal record beyond minor motor vehicle violations; he said the agency had not notified the New Bedford Police Department of its operation. Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan spoke at a briefing on September 24, saying he had no problem with dangerous cartel members, drug dealers and violent criminals being taken out of Fall River by ICE, "but that's about where I'm going to draw the line." Governor Maura Healey called on ICE on September 22 to disclose whom it had arrested and why, South Coast 360 reported, citing Boston.com, WBUR and NBC Boston reporting of those September statements.

The state law Sher named is Chapter 163 of the Acts of 2026, called the Protect Act, which was approved on August 5, 2026, according to the session law. South Coast 360, reading the act's text, reported that one section bars police, sheriffs' departments and state court employees from holding a person based solely on an immigration detainer past the time the person would otherwise be eligible for release, unless federal or state law, a judicial warrant, a court order or a treaty requires it, with an exception allowing advance notice to federal immigration authorities when a person is released at the end of a sentence for certain serious offences. The act also limits new agreements under Section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, which deputise local officers to carry out civil immigration enforcement.

ICE's release does not say where the 82 are now held or what stage their immigration cases have reached.

Sources: ICE news release, "ICE Boston arrests 82 illegal aliens during 3-day operation in Massachusetts," October 19, 2026; South Coast 360 reporting, October 20, 2026; TNND reporting carried by Europe Says, October 20, 2026.