March 27, 2026 Original MetroWest News Article
Norman Miller
- Immigrant victims of domestic violence fear going to court for restraining orders due to the presence of ICE agents.
- Lawyers and advocates report that the fear of deportation prevents victims and witnesses from participating in court proceedings, hindering justice.
- The number of ICE arrests at select MetroWest courthouses more than doubled from 2024 to 2025.
- A proposed state law, the PROTECT Act, aims to limit ICE arrests in state courts to only those with a criminal warrant.
Every day, victims of domestic violence must decide whether to go to court and obtain a restraining order, fearing it could lead to more violence from their abusers.
That decision is even tougher for victims who are immigrants and who may have entered the country illegally, as federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are often waiting in and around court, putting victims in fear of being arrested and deported.
“I have both clients and witnesses who are afraid to go to court,” said Ernest Horn, a Mendon-based attorney. “It does concern me that victims are trying to figure out what’s more dangerous to them — getting grabbed by ICE or getting beaten up by their abusers.”
Lawyers and advocates say ICE’s presence in courthouses hinders legal proceedings. Defendants skip court because they’re afraid. Prosecutors can’t prosecute cases because a victim or witness is worried about being taken into custody. Cases that would be heard by small claims courts are now not worth it for some, due to fear.
“I’ve been in courthouses for 40 years and I consider them a very sacred place,” said state Rep. David Linksy, D-Natick, who is an attorney. “The reason people are going to court is because they’re seeking justice. It really doesn’t matter, quite frankly, why a person is going to a courthouse. Everyone needs to feel like they’re safe there and that the rule of law will prevail.”
Linsky said he has witnessed people being taken from courthouses by ICE.
“I don’t know why they are there — they could be a defendant, they could be a victim, but it doesn’t matter,” he said. “If someone isn’t there for a court case because ICE takes them into custody, someone will not get justice that day. If a witness doesn’t show, the defendant will go free.”
Immigration attorney: ‘I think people are terrified’
Kira Gagarin, a Framingham-based immigration and criminal defense attorney, said because of ICE, some immigrants are afraid to even call police. She spoke of a recent case in Chelsea where a woman called police regarding her schizophrenic son. Instead of being taken to a hospital, he was arrested and ICE took him into custody. He went several weeks without treatment or medication.
“I think people are terrified, and for good reason, to even call the police,” Gagarin said. “People are terrified to go to court as witnesses, to go with friends for moral support or go when there is a mental health crisis and need help.”
Horn’s legal partner, former Milford Police Chief Thomas O’Loughlin, said he has seen an uptick in victims hiring him to appear in court on their behalf.
“They’re afraid to go to court,” he said of his clients. “I get people who are victims who hire me to represent their interests because they’re afraid. I’ll go to court in their place.”
Jane Doe Inc., a Boston-based coalition of dozens of agencies that deal with domestic violence and sexual assaults, said some victims are choosing to stay with their abusers rather than face deportation. Executive Director Hema Sarang-Sieminski said abusers have for years used the threat of deportation as a way to control immigrant partners.
Victim advocates used to be able to tell victims that wasn’t a concern.
“We used to be able to say with some degree of confidence that, in Massachusetts, if you’re going to court seeking a restraining order, we were able to offer an educated safety assurance,” Sarang-Sieminski said. “Ten years ago, that was the case. Not anymore. The reality of the climate we are in, we can’t say that with the same degree of assurance.”
Remote hearings may bring more victims forward
Sarang-Sieminski said that during the pandemic, restraining orders were often held via Zoom so victims did not have to appear in court in person. But now, she said, many courts are resistant to allowing Zoom hearings because the pandemic is over. She said if Zoom hearings were allowed, more victims may come forward.
Without it, there are people being abused and taken advantage of due to the fear of ICE.
“The day-to-day safety of folks is what’s being eroded because of this,” Sarang-Sieminski said.
According to Massachusetts Trial Court statistics, the number of arrests made by ICE in court increased significantly in 2025 from 2024. In what’s called Region 2 (Framingham, Natick, Marlborough, Milford and Westborough courts), ICE detained 140 people last year, more than double the number detained (56) in 2024.
Through Feb. 28, ICE has detained five people each in Framingham and Marlborough district courts this year, three in Milford District Court and one in Westborough. Those numbers only represent people arrested inside a courthouse; they do not include those detained outside or around the courthouse.
DA Marian Ryan: Presence of ICE hinders prosecutions
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said the presence of ICE in court also interferes with prosecutors’ efforts to seek justice.
“In the past, we (society) established churches and hospitals as sanctuaries,” she said. “That certainly should include courthouses. When you go to court, you need some help. We have trials, we hold people accountable if a person is guilty. And we can’t do that. Or a person who isn’t guilty, they aren’t allowed to clear their name.”
Ryan noted that it’s not just criminal cases, but also people engaged in landlord disputes or small claims issues. She said abuse victims may be hesitant to obtain restraining orders — not because they will face deportation, but because the subject of the restraining order could.
Victims, she explained, don’t want to take a parent away from children or don’t want to lose financial support.
“We forget that many people who may be subjects of ICE interests, they left a place that was truly terrifying,” Ryan said. “They (victims) say, ‘I may not want them to be my partner anymore, but I don’t want them to be sent somewhere where they could be hurt or killed.”
In 2018, Ryan filed suit in federal court against ICE to prevent the agency from arresting people on civil detainer warrants in state courts and was granted an injunction. But it was later vacated, and not pursued after Joe Biden was elected president in 2020.
PROTECT Act seeks to limit ICE presence in state courts
Now there’s an effort to make it state law. Linsky is a co-sponsor of a bill known as the PROTECT (Promoting Rule of law, Oversight, Trust and Equal Constitutional Treatment) Act, which includes a section that would ban federal ICE agents from entering and arresting people in state courts unless they have a criminal warrant, rather than just a civil immigration detainer.
Under current Massachusetts Trial Courts policies, court officers are allowed to share information with ICE agents, but only if asked directly. Court officers are not allowed to assist in ICE arresting someone but are allowed to permit ICE agents to enter lockup and take into federal custody on a civil detainer warrant someone who is to be released from state custody.
Under the PROTECT Act, which was passed March 25 by the state House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate, ICE agents would need a federal criminal warrant issued by a judge.
“I consider this a major public safety problem,” Linsky said. “Crime is going to increase — not because immigrants are committing more crimes, but because people aren’t reporting crimes.”
Both Linsky and Ryan said passage of the bill will help. But Horn disagrees.
“I don’t think that’s going to do much to help at all,” he said. “I don’t think that will amount to anything because they (state legislators) don’t have jurisdiction over ICE. It’s a public building. You can’t ban federal agents from a public building. We have the ‘supremacy clause,’ where federal law, without question, is supreme. I don’t have any idea how they will be able to restrict federal agents from going into a public building.”
Nevertheless, something must be done, Horn said.
“It’s a problem,” he said. “The courthouses really need to be a place where people can seek relief without fear.”
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerJouranlist.