Reports reveal office held people for days with little food and water, cramped cells, lack of access to health care
ICE recently changed policy to attempt to block Congressional oversight, prevent Americans’ representatives from witnessing ICE’s violations
“We are disturbed that ICE appears to be using the Burlington facility beyond its original design to detain people in inadequate conditions in Massachusetts — and that ICE is undermining public transparency and accountability.”
Washington (June 26, 2025) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) today led the entire Massachusetts Congressional delegation in writing to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons and ICE ERO Boston Acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde, pressing them on whether ICE was violating agency standards and holding detainees in inhumane conditions at a facility in Burlington, Massachusetts. The lawmakers also warned of the damage from a new ICE policy to shield field offices from public view by preventing members of Congress from making unannounced visits as part of their oversight — a key function of their job to serve their constituents.
U.S. Representatives Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Bill Keating (D-Mass.), Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) also joined Senators Markey and Warren on the letter.
“We are disturbed that ICE appears to be using the Burlington facility beyond its original design to detain people in inadequate conditions in Massachusetts — and that ICE is undermining public transparency and accountability,” wrote the lawmakers.
New reports reveal that ICE is holding people for days at a time at a field office in Burlington, Massachusetts, an office building designed to process people for no more than a few hours. ICE’s own policy says that, barring “exceptional circumstances,” no one should be detained in a field office holding facility for over 12 hours. But in recent months, ICE has used the Burlington office as a “de facto detention facility,” with conditions made worse by the Administration’s attempts to triple the number of ICE arrests per day.
Conditions at the facility are reportedly abysmal, including inadequate food, drinking water, beds, medical care, hygiene supplies, and more. These conditions appear to violate ICE’s own standards, warranting immediate attention.
ICE also recently changed its policy to prohibit members of Congress from making unannounced visits to field offices used for detention, undermining public transparency. Meanwhile, ICE continues to dispute individuals’ reports of what they have personally experienced at those same field offices.
“In effect, ICE appears to be violating its own detention standards, denying reports of violations, and then preventing the American public’s representatives from witnessing those violations,” wrote the lawmakers.
The lawmakers requested a congressional briefing and pushed for answers regarding conditions at the Burlington facility, with a deadline of July 10.
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