Healey tells ICE to stop using Hanscom airport to deport Massachusetts residents
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is calling on the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to stop using the Hanscom Field airport for private deportation flights.
Healey sent a letter to Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem and acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on Friday. The governor said she's recently learned that ICE-chartered planes are being used "to quickly remove residents and sever them from their friends, family, and counsel without due process of law."
"As Governor, I am writing to demand that ICE immediately stop using any Massachusetts airports and private jets to deport residents and obstruct due process, and to halt this practice across this country," Healey wrote.
According to the "ICE Flight Monitor" published by nonprofit group Human Rights First, there have been 114 ICE flights out of Hanscom through November 2025. That's more than double the number of ICE flights that left the airport last year, according to the group.
Healey said a "significant majority" of those arrested by ICE in Massachusetts in the past year have no criminal convictions or charges.
"Flying these residents out of state and away from their support system and legal counsel - often within hours of arrest - is intentionally cruel and purposely obstructs the due process and legal representation they are owed," Healey wrote. "This practice must stop."
ICE has previously defended its activities in Massachusetts, saying that 600 undocumented people out of more than 1,400 detained during Operation Patriot 2.0 in September had "significant criminal convictions or pending criminal charges for crimes committed in the United States or were known foreign fugitives."
WBZ-TV reached out to ICE for comment about the Hanscom flights on Monday but hasn't received a response.
Hanscom Field is a regional airport operated by Massport and used mostly for private and corporate flights. It is located in Bedford about 20 miles northwest of Boston.