ICE Interacted With Cambridge Police Department At Least 7 Times in 2026

The Cambridge Police Department has reported seven interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the first eight months of 2026, according to reports released by acting Police Commissioner Pauline E. Wells.

The department’s latest report details six interactions between Cambridge officers and federal agents between February and August 2026. The report adds to the one other inquiry from ICE that the department logged this year, which was documented on Jan. 4.

Four of the interactions reported were requests for information, three of which targeted individuals who were in CPD’s custody. The department refused to provide any information each time.

In a July 9 interaction, an ICE officer asked to verify a couple’s address for “administrative processing,” and asked about “any dangerous incidents” at the location. The report noted that the CPD officer told the federal officer there were no reported incidents, but does not detail whether the couple’s address was shared.

Jennie Lopez, a CPD spokesperson, clarified that the officer only confirmed that there were no “dangerous incidents” at the location, and declined to provide further information. Lopez confirmed that CPD did not independently provide the address.

The immigration agents who contacted CPD already possessed the individual’s address, and the call was not related to possible removal or enforcement, Lopez added.

In Monday’s City Council meeting, Councilor Ayah A. Al-Zubi ’23 raised concern about the July interaction, urging the department to ensure the city’s agreement not to cooperate with ICE is followed, even if a call is answered “on reflex.”

“I just want to acknowledge that it would be great for the department to treat that with the same mindfulness and caution because we have agreed that we cannot cooperate with ICE, and in some ways this is our operational assistance to ICE,” Al-Zubi said.

The report also notes two instances of city employees raising concerns about possible ICE activity in Cambridge. In February, a city employee emailed then-Police Commissioner Christine A. Elow about a “black Chevy Tahoe” that they were concerned may be being driven by ICE officers.

In April, a resident reported a possible ICE sighting to a city councilor, who contacted Elow. The log noted the department confirmed that ICE was not present at the location at that time.

CPD has seen a slight uptick in contact from federal agents this year, after reporting only five interactions with ICE in the first eight months of 2025.

The log is the third the department has released — following previous reports released in September 2025 and February, which together detail 16 interactions with federal agents in 2025.

The previous reports only detail one arrest: Freydy R. Mejia, who was detained by ICE shortly after being released from CPD’s custody last October. CPD did not provide any information when contacted by ICE, but after Mejia was released, ICE agents arrested him outside of the police station.

CPD reported that they were not aware of any ICE arrests in the city in 2026, and has emphasized that the department does not cooperate with information requests from federal immigration enforcement.

But ICE is not required to inform CPD before conducting operations in the city.

There has been at least one ICE arrest in Cambridge in 2026, according to the agency’s social media posts. In May, ICE’s Boston field office arrested Richard Gilheney — who they described as “a criminal illegal alien” from the United Kingdom — and posted the arrest on X. ICE alleged Gilheney was a member of an international criminal group and had previously been arrested for larceny and property damage.

Gilheney was arrested by ICE in “targeted operations” in Cambridge, according to an ICE spokesperson. The agency has not publicized any other arrests in Cambridge.

When asked about the arrest in early August, CPD spokesperson Jennie Lopez wrote that the department had no knowledge of the arrest. The arrest was not included in the most recent report, dated Aug. 19.

At the start of the year, Cambridge adopted several preventive policies to curtail ICE’s presence in Cambridge.

In February, City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 joined several other cities in the Greater Boston area in issuing an executive order to bar ICE activity on all city-owned and operated property. And less than a week later, the City Council unanimously passed a policy order that amended the city’s sanctuary city ordinance to include Huang’s order, further cementing it in city law.

The Council also passed an order that could bar CPD from hiring individuals who previously worked for a federal agency conducting immigration enforcement, which city staff reported was not a feasible restriction under Civil Service Law during the Monday meeting.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at ClaireMichal.154.