ICE agents were reported this past weekend near several university campuses in Massachusetts.
One such instance occurred at Boston College, where the presence of a marked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle was observed Saturday afternoon. The sighting reignited concerns of potential arrests targeting international students and Catholic parishioners in the area.
The vehicle was spotted at 2:17 p.m. at the intersection of Fr. Herlihy Way and St. Thomas More Road, just outside campus grounds, according to The Gavel, Boston College’s student-run media outlet.
University officials quickly issued a statement to reassure the community.
“The vehicle did not enter the campus and had no interactions with the university community,” said Jack Dunn, university spokesman, adding that administrators were closely monitoring the situation.
An international student, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed his unease to The Gavel. “I was surprised and concerned to see ICE near campus,” he said.
He noted that Harvard, with its more politically active profile, usually attracts more attention from federal authorities. Still, he admitted that ICE’s presence alone is unsettling. “I am not a very vocal person on social issues because I try to avoid conflict,” he told The Gavel, before adding: “I worry that if I speak out, I could become a target of ICE for deportation. Even if I believe in certain causes, I stay quiet.”
According to The Gavel, this marks the first time a marked ICE vehicle has been seen in the vicinity of Boston College.
The incident comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has relaunched a federal campaign known as Operation Patriot 2.0.
The program specifically targets sanctuary cities, including Boston and Chicago. An earlier phase, conducted in May, led to nearly 1,500 arrests in Massachusetts, including two in nearby Brookline, The Gavel reported.
Local officials on alert
Aware of the risks, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu warned that the city was preparing for increased ICE activity. She pledged to resist federal enforcement actions targeting her city. “I will not back down,” she said.
The sense of insecurity is not new. In March, ICE agents arrested Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish student at Tufts University, after she took part in a protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
A community on edge
The appearance of the ICE vehicle near Boston College has deepened anxiety among immigrant communities in Boston, already unsettled by the Trump administration’s threats.
Boston is one of the U.S. cities with the largest international student populations. It is also the third-largest destination for Haitian immigrants nationwide.
For the White House, Operation Patriot 2.0 is intended to reassert federal authority in sanctuary cities.
For students—particularly international ones—it translates into constant fear and restrictions on free expression.
Even without direct enforcement actions, the simple presence of a federal vehicle is enough to create an atmosphere of mistrust.
In Boston, as in other sanctuary cities, tensions surrounding ICE operations are now tangible.
Local officials have pledged resistance, international students fear for their future, and Catholic parishioners worry their places of worship could become enforcement targets, The Gavel reported.
