Boston police criticized for helping immigration officials

March 8, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. | Updated March 8, 2019 at 1:20 a.m.

by Associated Press

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2018 file photo, a Honduran migrant helps a young girl cross to the American side of the border wall, in Tijuana, Mexico. A San Diego TV station says the U.S. government ran an operation to screen journalists, activists and others while investigating last year's migrant caravan from Mexico. KNSD-TV says documents leaked by a Homeland Security source show a January database listing at least 10 journalists, seven of them U.S. citizens, as warranting secondary screening at U.S. points of entry. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2018 file photo, a Honduran migrant helps a young girl cross to the American side of the border wall, in Tijuana, Mexico. A San Diego TV station says the U.S. government ran an operation to screen journalists, activists and others while investigating last year's migrant caravan from Mexico. KNSD-TV says documents leaked by a Homeland Security source show a January database listing at least 10 journalists, seven of them U.S. citizens, as warranting secondary screening at U.S. points of entry. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

BOSTON (AP) - Boston police are facing criticism for helping federal immigration officials arrest a construction worker living in the country illegally despite city policies protecting such people.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said Thursday it filed a public records request seeking more information about the department's "alarming" cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police Commissioner William Gross stressed officers "are not agents of ICE" and remain focused on violent crime and other priorities. The commissioner didn't comment directly on the 2017 arrest.

The city's 2014 Trust Act prevents police from detaining a person solely for their immigration status.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor filed a lawsuit alleging a construction company unlawfully retaliated against an injured worker in 2017 by referring him to Boston police, which then contacted ICE.

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