Massport: End ICE Flights at Hanscom Field

Designate all of Hanscom's airfield nonpublic under the Governor's PROTECT Act order, including leased ramps of Signature Aviation.

What we are asking

Massport evaluates Hanscom and formally designates the whole airfield as nonpublic for purposes of the PROTECT Act: the taxiways, the aprons, the service roads, and the ramps it leases to Signature Aviation, where the ICE charter aircraft park. It posts the designation on its website and at the gates.

Why Massport must act

The Governor has already prohibited civil immigration enforcement in nonpublic areas of state property. Her guidelines put a duty on state bodies, and they name quasi-public agencies:

"must (1) evaluate those properties and designate areas as nonpublic; and (2) memorialize and make those designations known."Temporary Guidelines on Prohibited Uses of Nonpublic Areas of State Property, September 4, 2026

The guidelines' own examples of nonpublic areas include "Areas that require security screening or badge access to enter." That describes an airfield. Massport owns all of Hanscom; the Signature ramps are leased, not sold.

The designation matters because the guidelines apply the prohibition in "designated nonpublic areas." Until Massport designates, it can claim nothing is prohibited. We have found no designation published by Massport. confirm by records request

Legal basis

• G.L. c. 6, §§ 224–225, added by the PROTECT Act (St. 2026, c. 163, § 1): the Governor "may prohibit, or otherwise limit, in nonpublic areas of any state entity, civil immigration enforcement activities."
• A&F Temporary Guidelines, Sept. 4, 2026, Introduction and § III.B (duty to evaluate, designate and publish).
• Signature / Massport Master Lease (2019), §§ 2.3, 6.1, 7.6: Massport keeps control of the airfield and can restrict uses on the leased ramps. quotes to be checked against the lease scan

End State Police escorts for ICE flights, in writing.

What we are asking

Massport's board adopts a written policy: no police resource Massport pays for provides escort, perimeter control, traffic control, staging or transport for ICE flights at any Massport airport. It sends that policy to the Colonel of the State Police.

Why Massport must act

Since September 4, 2026, Massachusetts law says no law enforcement officer shall:

"use or allow use of state or local resources for, or conduct or participate in, federal civil immigration enforcement"G.L. c. 147, § 64(b)(2)(iii)

The Commonwealth's own training for police says that bar covers "staging space, perimeter or traffic control for a federal civil operation, transport." State Police Troop F provides security at Hanscom. State Police records from 2025 describe troopers assisting ICE operations there. quote the records exactly; they predate the law post-Sept. 4 observations to be matched to flight dates

"In writing" is the point. The law itself recognizes an agency's written policy, and the Attorney General can enforce the law in court.

Legal basis

• G.L. c. 147, § 64(b)(2)(iii) (PROTECT Act § 7), effective Sept. 4, 2026. The State Police and the Massport police department are named in the Act.
• G.L. c. 147, § 64(e)(1) and (e)(4): Attorney General complaint process and civil action; an agency's "written policy" may bar assistance.
• EOPSS / Municipal Police Training Committee / Mass. Chiefs of Police, Roll Call Advisory on the PROTECT Act (Rev. 08/2026).

Admit no ICE transport at Hanscom under ICE's own warrants. If a flight is allowed, publish who at Massport authorizes each flight, and on what legal basis.

What we are asking

Massport does not open its gates to ICE detainee transport on the strength of ICE's own paperwork. If Massport decides that a flight must be allowed, it publishes, for each flight, who at Massport authorized it and the legal requirement it relied on.

Why Massport must act

ICE holds the people it puts on these flights under administrative warrants, signed by an ICE officer and not by a judge. The Governor's guidelines say plainly what such a warrant is worth on state property:

An administrative warrant "does not give federal immigration officers legal authority to enter non-public areas of state entities. An administrative warrant may include an ICE Form number, e.g. ICE Form I-205 or ICE Form I-200."Temporary Guidelines, Appendix A

The Governor's order allows only three exceptions: a requirement of state or federal law or of a funded program; a judicial warrant or order; or a specific and immediate threat to health or safety. The guidelines ask every agency to name a contact person, to verify "the identity and authority" of officers, and to adopt "procedures for evaluating any claims" that the law requires access.

So someone at Massport should be able to say, for every flight, which exception applied and who decided. We are asking Massport to say it in public.

Legal basis

• G.L. c. 6, § 225(a) and the Governor's Sept. 4, 2026 directive (three exceptions).
• A&F Temporary Guidelines, § III.C (prohibited conduct and exceptions), § III.D (contact person, verifying identity and authority), Appendix A (administrative warrants).

No ICE transfers out of public view. Provide for public observation of any ICE activity at Hanscom Field.

What we are asking

No loading of detained people behind hangars and fences. If any ICE activity takes place at Hanscom, Massport provides a place from which the public can observe it, and keeps a record of it.

Why Massport must act

ICE charters load detainees on a ramp that Signature Aviation leases from Massport, behind the airport fence. confirm against an observation A public agency should not provide a hidden place for people to be put in chains.

Massport has the power to set the terms. The Governor's guidelines recognize that an agency can "restrict who may enter or remain in the area, the purpose and activities for which the area may be used." Massport's lease lets it restrict what Signature does on the ramp by "uniform, non-discriminatory Airport rules, regulations and directives," and gives Massport "sole and absolute discretion" over security requirements there.

Legal basis

• A&F Temporary Guidelines, § III.B, principle 4.
• Signature / Massport Master Lease (2019), §§ 6.1 and 7.6. check against the lease scan
• G.L. c. 6, § 226(a): state guidance on documenting interactions with civil immigration enforcement. confirm wording