Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has written a letter to federal officials demanding they stop using Hanscom Field for private deportation flights.
In a Monday, Dec. 15, letter sent to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Healey accused the agency of blocking basic legal rights. The governor says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are using private aircraft to quickly remove detained residents from Massachusetts, often without due process. Many of those residents have no criminal convictions or charges, she wrote.
Healey says the flights are designed to move people out of state within hours. That speed, she says, cuts them off from family, friends, and lawyers. She called the practice "intentionally cruel," adding, "This is not the justice we believe in or stand for in Massachusetts or as Americans. This practice must stop."
The letter reads in part:
As you well know, a significant majority of people detained by ICE in Massachusetts over the past year have no criminal convictions or charges. They are hard-working, productive, and beloved members of our community that you have indiscriminately targeted for deportation proceedings. Many of them are in the midst of a lawful process seeking citizenship through Massachusetts courts. This doesn't make our communities safer -- it in fact makes us all less safe.
Click here to read the full letter.
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