ICE activity is increasing, and over 9,000 arrests were made in Massachusetts between January 2025 and August 2026. Detainees and their families are caught in a nightmare, where due process is denied by design. It is a living story of human rights violations, human trafficking by the government, and unfathomable personal loss that radiates across communities.
Just as a great loaf of bread requires the right ingredients to rise, a winning civil resistance campaign needs three essentials to rise up: a compelling vision, broad community engagement and a spark for action.
More than 7,000 Massachusetts residents have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the first 15 months of the Trump administration, a rate nearly five times that under the Biden administration.
Those paying attention know that Trump’s campaign to terrorize immigrant populations is well underway despite rising resistance. ICE’s pernicious goal to detain 92,000 people by this coming October will only be possible if they have carceral facilities.
Every Wednesday, just behind the Burlington Mall, hundreds of people gather with signs, some in costumes or adorned with flags. They shine a spotlight on the horrific conditions at the ICE field office in Burlington, Mass.
When John Majercak joined Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western Massachusetts (IN-SLWM) in January, he had little experience as an activist. By September, he had organized a successful protest urging an end to the partnership between Houston-based Avelo Airlines and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
