Federal data names Waltham Police Department as site of ICE arrests, police stress no department involvement with ICE detentions

Internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data obtained by a coalition of lawyers and academics lists eight immigration arrests from 2025 that appear to have taken place on city-owned property.

The Deportation Data Project compiles federal-level data about arrests, detainments and law enforcement detainers obtained from ICE using Freedom of Information Act requests. University of California, Los Angeles political science professor Graeme Blair; University of California, Berkeley law professor David Hausman; and immigration lawyer Amber Quereshi lead the project.

The DDP database records eight ICE arrests between January and October 2025 whose location is listed as the Waltham Police Department.

One entry, from May 7, matches case details for Mynor Lopez-Lopez listed in a June 6 press release from the U.S. District Attorney. Immigration authorities arrested Lopez-Lopez, 37, a Guatemalan national, on May 7 and charged him with unlawful reentry into the United States. According to court records, Lopez-Lopez pleaded not guilty to assault and battery at a Newton District Court arraignment on Feb. 25. The case was closed for a lack of prosecution on May 8. He was deported to Guatemala on Aug. 25.

The other seven cases listed in the DDP database don’t match any press releases from the DA. Two of the other people arrested had been charged with a crime previously — one for a traffic offense and one for a count of domestic violence — and two others had charges pending in court. The other three had no listed criminal charges on their cases.

A Waltham Police Department spokesperson said that the department had no information on any ICE arrests around or near the department at any of the dates and times obtained by the DDP database.

“The Waltham Police Department does not get notified of ICE arrests. WPD does not have records or documentation of ICE arrests. Any information regarding ICE arrests needs to be directed to that agency,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson also said Lopez-Lopez was not in WPD custody on May 7 and directed further questions to ICE.

ICE did not respond to any of the multiple requests for comment from The Waltham Times.

WPD Chief Kevin O’Connell also did not respond to requests for comments. All questions were directed to the department’s public information line.

Lack of transparency fuels speculation

While DDP project leaders cite federal records as its source, much government information about ICE is nontransparent and difficult to access. 

As a result, witness accounts, circumstantial evidence and speculative comments – often unverified – are being used by many to try to tease out what’s actually happening locally. 

For example, photos and video taken earlier this month showing 24 new white SUVs in the parking lot next to the ICE facility in Burlington sparked concerns that ICE activity could ramp up in Massachusetts. However, ICE has not publicly commented on the SUVs nor its plans, and state and local officials had little to no information to share about the SUVs and ICE plans. 

Meanwhile, an anonymous Jan. 15 post on Reddit alleged that ICE had used the area behind Waltham’s Public Works Department at 165 Lexington St. as a staging facility to process detainees in early 2025. The Reddit user provided no evidence, saying the posts were based on activity the user had observed. The user has since deleted the account used to post the information, but not before the information spread online.

Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy said she had heard allegations that the DPW and adjacent police parking lot had been used by ICE and that Waltham police were “assisting with civil enforcement actions.” She said such assistance was not allowed by Massachusetts law and that O’Connell told her the allegations were false.

McCarthy added that the WPD has had ongoing outreach to ensure residents are comfortable approaching the police, regardless of immigration status. “For the most part, I would say that the Waltham police are trying to protect the rights of all,” she said.

The Public Works Department did not respond to requests for comment by the deadline.

Sean T. Durkee, city councilor for Ward 6, where both facilities are located, said he hadn’t heard the allegations that ICE used DPW property.

“Without dates, times, photographs, WPD spokesperson names, or mayoral confirmation, it is difficult knowing whether these allegations are true. Based on constituent reporting of CPW yard activities, it’s odd I wouldn’t have heard anything by now,” Durkee wrote in a statement to The Waltham Times.

Other councilors said they were made aware of the allegations last year by either constituents, social media posts or both.

Ward 8 Councilor Cathyann Harris said she learned of the allegations from a constituent in May 2025 and she asked the police to issue a press release to address the issue.

WPD issued a statement on May 20 stressing that the city’s Police Department does not participate in civil immigration enforcement and hadn’t received any requests from ICE to assist in its immigration operations. Additionally, the release cited a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision that state and local officials cannot detain individuals solely based on federal immigration detainers or non-judicial warrants.

City Council President and Ward 9 Councilor Robert G. Logan said city leaders have seen no evidence of ICE using city property as a staging area to process detainees.