Indivisible panel on ICE highlights that ‘community that makes a difference’

As the specter of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation looms over greater Boston and arrests continue over the town border in Waltham, about 160 residents gathered at the Weston Community Center on Sunday, Feb. 1, to learn more about the agency’s actions and context around its local presence.

The discussion panel, titled “ICE in our Back Yard,” was hosted by Indivisible Weston, a local branch of the national organization Indivisible, which has organized recent No Kings protests opposing the actions of President Donald Trump’s administration.

It featured the Rev. Andrew Harris, a member of the Bearing Witness organizing team and pastor of the United Church of Christ Congregational in Burlington; Kelly Henderson, a member of Fuerza, a neighborhood watch group in Waltham; Weston resident Carrie Preston, chair of Boston University’s English department and associate director of BU’s Center on Forced Displacement, and Jeffrey Thielman, president and CEO of the International Institute of New England. The discussion was moderated by Ripley Hastings, who also serves as Weston’s town moderator.

“We find ourselves today, as we often have as a nation, politically divided … I’m sure we don’t all see things in the same way, but many of us are greatly concerned,” Hastings said. “This is not only an informational gathering, but it is also intended as a call for engagement and action.”

Preston described the historical context of ICE’s operations in Minneapolis and Maine, which are new for those regions, but are not new in the United States. She noted many aspects of the missions in those states mirror those seen near the U.S.-Mexico border for decades.

“What I see happening is that the experiences of border communities are now happening everywhere,” Preston said. “The militarization of the border that used to be felt in the Rio Grande Valley is now being experienced in Waltham, Boston, Minneapolis and Maine.”

She also noted the ICE budget, which has risen from $6 billion in 2015 to $85 billion through the approval of 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Preston said this funding, which makes ICE the country’s highest-funded law enforcement agency, is turning the nation into a “surveillance state.”

Henderson and Harris, members of Fuerza and Bearing Witness, respectively, described the efforts their groups have undertaken to train citizen watch groups in Waltham and Burlington, as well as how recent immigration enforcement operations have affected communities.

In a city where there have been more than 100 ICE arrests, some Waltham telephone poles are adorned with posters featuring a silhouette and the caption “ICE took our neighbor from this spot.”

“I can’t adequately summarize or articulate the damage that all of this is doing. It just ripples outward in breadth, depth and time,” Henderson said. “This is a generational trauma that is happening to our city and these families … It is also hacking indiscriminately at our local economy.”

A recent ICE operation in Massachusetts ended in October, with the agency announcing it apprehended more than 1,400 people in its “Patriot 2.0” mission. The majority of immigrants arrested by ICE through Oct. 15 in Massachusetts – about 63% – had no criminal record, according to reporting and analysis from the New York Times.

Harris and Henderson said while things may seem dark, there have been bright spots. In particular, Harris highlighted how the Bearing Witness standout group began as just two people outside ICE’s Burlington office, and is now a multiday standout with hundreds of people.

“All of this came from just two people, standing outside the building one day last April,” Harris said. “I’ve seen the truth; a few people who care about something can turn into a community that makes a difference.”

State Rep. Alice Peisch, D-Wellesley, provided a brief legislative update on Massachusetts’ efforts to counter the Trump administration’s actions, including increasing the attorney general’s budget to fund lawsuits, providing additional funding for immigration legal services and modifying laws to ensure immigrant students receive the same education opportunities.

“This is an issue that we are all taking very seriously, that we’re all very concerned about,” Peisch said, “and we’ll be taking continuous action on.”

As community groups prepare for Boston’s own Metro Surge or Catch of the Day ICE operation, panelists said there is little information about when it could come.

“There’s rumors all the time,” Thielman said. “And the government is not going to tell us.”

For more information about Indivisible Weston, as well as resources, visit indivisibleweston.org.