A motion this past Tuesday by City Councilor Vesna Nuon requested the City Manager have Lowell Police Department provide their official policy for interacting with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and how they plan to communicate that policy to the Lowell community. It took less than three days for Police Superintendent Greg Hudon to outline that policy.

The agenda for the next council meeting, scheduled for February 11, contains the Chief’s response to the motion, along with a detailed explanation of the department’s Immigration Policy.

Any question about whether LPD officers will in any way defy ICE requests or not cooperate was clarified in Hudon’s letter addressed to Manager Golden.

“The Lowell Police Department cooperates and assists with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) when formally requested, as we do with all our law enforcement partners such as local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies (FBI, DEA, etc.),” Hudon writes. “Our officers are also bound by law to make arrests when a judicially issued federal arrest warrant exists for an individual and where a potential threat to public safety or national security is perceived.”

The Superintendent does state “a person’s right to request assistance, file a police report, participate in police-community activities, or otherwise benefit from general police services is not contingent upon the individual providing proof of citizenship or documented immigration status.”

He also goes on to explain that officers do not routinely question any person about his or her specific citizenship or immigration status when responding to that person’s request for assistance, along with reinforcing that the Lowell Police Department recognizes and values the diversity of the community they serve.

Click here to view the Immigration Policy in its entirety.