Inside East Boston’s underground network tracking ICE’s courthouse arrests
The group chat pings. Not jokes, not holiday cheer — just a plate number, a time, a face to watch. Between school drop-offs, split shifts and lunch breaks, neighbors slip into East Boston District Court, scanning for plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents . They log plates, film detainments, call the LUCE hotline and steer families toward help.
On paper, they're ordinary — a nurse, a student, a dad — but in practice, they've taken on a second, unpaid job: documenting their neighborhood's immigration arrests near the courthouse.
On Friday, a member of a watchdog group arrived at the courthouse for his volunteer shift before starting his regular job later that day. He asked the clerks for a printed copy of the daily docket, then crossed the hall to the courtroom and waited for proceedings to begin.
The man is part of a 60-person neighborhood coalition who have monitored East Boston — and members feel the neighborhood has been targeted due to its immigrant and Hispanic populations — since March, taking up the role after President Donald Trump's "border czar" promised in February he'd be "bringing hell" to Boston .
After two hours, the watchdog member left the courtroom and circled the courthouse, trying to verify an unconfirmed tip about an ICE sighting. He found no agents. It was uneventful, but not insignificant. Just nine days earlier, ICE agents had been seen inside the courthouse.
Six days before that, agents detained someone as they tried to leave — slamming the person's knee in an SUV door as they forced them inside.
He knows it could happen again.
"I don't want to overplay the impact this has on my life, because it's nothing compared to neighbors in the community who are most vulnerable to being snatched up by ICE," watchdog group member Josh Lown said.
"Any sort of inconvenience or stress that it plays on me, and other folks who may be trying to balance with work? It's really nothing compared to what a lot of our neighbors are facing. It's why we do it, because we care about our neighborhood and we care about our neighbors."
The watchdog group members range from college students to parents, to longtime advocates, retirees and other working-class residents of East Boston.
Some work daily with the group, while others take on "shifts" as their schedules allow — in between classes, after kids are dropped at school or before a split work shift.
Protest on Dec. 19 outside East Boston District Court.(Irene Rotondo/MassLive)
Their efforts are a mix of quiet surveillance and quick coordination. What began in early spring as rumors in group chats and informal walks of "just a couple neighbors getting together" grew into a structured system by the summer.
"This is a great neighborhood — some of the best food is out here, some of the best neighbors are out here. We've been working hard as neighbors to continue to uplift one another," Lown said.
"We want ICE out of the neighborhood. We want ICE out of Massachusetts ... and neighbors will continue to work together as long as we need to."
As of late December, watchdog members communicate through a dedicated group chat, take scheduled shifts to document license plates of potential ICE vehicles, verify information and call the LUCE hotline to alert the wider community. They record detainments, connect families with legal aid and advocacy groups and raise awareness with physical signs.
ICE at court
Since ICE's pattern has moved lately from neighborhood patrols to the East Boston District Courthouse, the watchdog group followed. Much of its hands-on efforts are now through weekly "court watch" days, when group members monitor ICE agents' activities at East Boston District Court.
Watchdog members and federal agents who enter the courthouse know each other by face, Lown said. He added that ICE agents appear to have noticed to group's presence and have taken pictures or videos of members themselves.
Protest on Dec. 19 outside East Boston District Court.(Irene Rotondo/MassLive)
The ICE agents come in plainclothes and view the small courthouse's daily list, the members say, then wait in the courtroom for a defendant to get through proceedings.
Usually, people are detained by ICE after they've been ordered released on personal recognizance, Lown said — a decision judges typically make when they consider someone a low flight risk, are facing minor or nonviolent charges or have a clean criminal record.
Sallyport arrest
On Nov. 21, group members documented ICE agents' detainment of Alejandro Orrego Agudelo , 27, a man released on personal recognizance after he was arrested by Boston police earlier that same morning. This followed a call to his East Boston apartment over a parking spot spat, according to a Boston police report.
Boston police said Orrego Agudelo poked one officer in the chest and resisted being handcuffed during his arrest, flailing, kicking and yelling as they tried to restrain him. He was charged with vandalizing property, resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer and arraigned at in East Boston District Court.
After a judge ordered Orrego Agudelo released on personal recognizance with another court date set for January, the 27-year-old never made it back home. He was met by ICE officers inside the East Boston District Courthouse, according to watchdog group members and Orrego Agudelo's lawyer, Alexander Shapoval.
"He never walked out of the courthouse. [Court personnel] did not tell me anything, I was just as surprised as anyone else," Shapoval told MassLive, adding that ICE activity at courthouses in the state has appeared "secretive" and "un-American," especially given agents' unmarked uniforms.
"He was supposed to come out ... the next thing I heard, there's screams outside," said Shapoval. He'd represented his client inside the courthouse just minutes before he was detained. "If he's not brought back to this Boston court, then it presents a problem. And… is a violation of his right to speedy trial. That is very concerning."
By the time neighborhood watchdog group members reached the courthouse alley that day, Orrego Agudelo was shirtless, barefoot and pinned facedown by an ICE agent's knee on the pavement of the sallyport alley — a secure area typically reserved for court staff and used to transport defendants.
Man's arrest raises questions
The watchdog group claims "certain" court officers coordinated with ICE, allowing agents to intercept Orrego Agudelo before he exited the building and detain him through the restricted sallyport.
The Massachusetts Trial Courts confirmed there was an incident outside of the East Boston courthouse that "violates the policy" for court personnel "to neither assist nor impede ICE." The court did not clarify whether the violation involved the helping or hindering of ICE agents.
However, there are "measures ... being taken to address" the aforementioned violation within the "Security Department," said state Trial Court spokesperson Jennifer Donahue. This department is comprised of court officers who are assigned to courthouses across the state.
All Trial Court employees are expected to follow the Trial Court Policy and Procedures Regarding Courthouse Interactions with the Department of Homeland Security , Donahue stated.
"The Trial Court Security Department conducts regular ongoing trainings that include education about the Trial Court Policy and Procedures Regarding Courthouse Interactions with the Department of Homeland Security," the Trial Courts' statement read.
"Since the incident in East Boston, the Security Department has held additional meetings with Chief Court Officers and Court Officers across the state to reinforce the policy."
While the watchdog group is "thankful the Court recognized finally what we've been seeing," members feel it's "largely because we were there, verifying and taking video and were able to confirm that that was happening," Lown said.
"If we didn't have video ... it would have been our word against theirs, and nothing would have happened. The story would have been different ... it just goes to show the importance of us being able to put eyes on these instances," he said.
Signs for LUCE, torn down, outside of East Boston District Court.(Irene Rotondo/MassLive)
On Friday afternoon — braving the high winds and rain — the group held a vigil across the street from the courthouse, in its most public action yet.
They sang Christmas songs reworked with anti-ICE lyrics, held hand-painted signs, lit candles and faced the courthouse as they called for elected officials' intervention through a microphone under a blue tent.
Cars and trucks honked as they drove by, including several MBTA bus drivers. Representatives for Sens. Lydia Edwards and Ed Markey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Boston City Councilor Gigi Colletta were all present.
"We want to do more of this ... push for our elected elected officials to do something, bring them to these events so they can see there is a community response who cares about this," Lown said.
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