ICE Vehicle Spotted Near BC Campus Amid Immigration Crackdowns in Massachusetts

Written by Christian Uva and Julie Huynh

A marked ICE vehicle was seen near Boston College’s campus on Fr. Herlihy Way and St. Thomas More Road on Saturday around 2:17 p.m.

“The vehicle did not enter the BC campus and had no interactions with anyone from the campus community,” University Spokesman Jack Dunn said in a statement to The Gavel. “BC administrators are monitoring the situation but have had no contact with any federal officials.”

This is the first time ICE has been seen around the BC campus.

The appearance comes after the Trump administration initiated an ICE operation in Massachusetts last week called Operation Patriot 2.0, which is targeted at sanctuary cities across the country, including Boston and Chicago. The original Operation Patriot in May was aimed at immigrants in Massachusetts and resulted in nearly 1,500 arrests across the state, including two in nearby Brookline.

Border czar Tom Homan pledged to “flood the zone” in these sanctuary cities. Last week, Mayor Michelle Wu and Governor Maura Healey said they were prepared for a ramping up of ICE presence and arrests in Boston. Wu vowed that she would “not back down” if and when ICE arrived in the city.

In the past year alone, ICE has caused rising concerns for the safety of international students. Agents arrested Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish international student at Tufts University, in late March for protesting against Israel’s genocide in Palestine. However, she was released from federal custody soon after.

An anonymous international student said that he was surprised and concerned to see ICE present at BC. He said that he believed BC wasn’t as much of a target as other Boston-area universities like Harvard University, which has drawn the ire of the Trump administration for its political activism.

“I’m not a very vocal person about social issues because I tend to try and avoid conflict,” he said. “I believe this is partly due to the concern that, if I do, I’ll be at risk of becoming a target of ICE for deportation. So even if I believe in some topics, I remain relatively quiet.”

Catherine May, MCAS ‘27, spent Sunday morning protesting the federal agents coming to BC. She stood on the same street where the ICE vehicle was spotted yesterday with a dozen students in the rain, holding a handmade cardboard sign that read “ABOLISH ICE.” She said she thought agents might target the Spanish Mass held at St. Ignatius Church early in the afternoon, although none came to the church.

Catholic churches have been targeted by ICE since Trump rescinded a Biden-era law that prevented arrests at “sensitive areas,” including churches, schools, and hospitals. ICE agents made arrests at two Catholic churches in San Bernardino County, California on June 20, leading to the Dioceses of San Bernardino and Nashville allowing immigrant parishioners to not attend Mass to avoid potential arrests.

May said that it is against the Catholic faith to detain and deport immigrants. “It is a violation of religious freedom for ICE to be here,” she said.

For resources and more information for immigrants in Massachusetts.