Frequently-Asked Questions

Q: What is the purpose of the Welcoming Town Resolution?
A: Immigrants should feel safe talking to the Randolph Police (RPD), knowing that the Randolph Police will not ask for evidence of citizenship. The purpose of the Welcoming Town Resolution is to inform immigrants about the long-standing policy of the Randolph Police. The RPD follows state and federal law, no more and no less. The Welcoming Town Resolution doesn't change any police policy.

Q: Why do we need to say Randolph is a welcoming town when we all know that?
A: The national news is full of stories about deporting immigrants. Randolph's large immigrant community is concerned about how that national policy affects them. The Welcoming Town Resolution clarifies that the Randolph Police will treat immigrants the same as they treat all residents, even in the xenophobic national climate. Some local police departments have deputized their police officers as ICE agents -- Randolph has not done that and will not do that.

Q: Why don't you just tell the immigrant community that they're safe, instead of a Welcoming Town Resolution?
A: The best way to tell people is to broadcast it on RCTV and on the Internet, as an official statement of the Randolph Town Council and the Randolph Police. A public Town Council meeting accomplishes that. As does testimony from the Randolph Police Chief clarifying existing police policy. The PRD Chief testified on Feb. 27 to the Public Safety Subcommittee, but that testimony has yet to appear on RCTV (I have made a FOIA request which should get it on RCTV around March 24).

Q: What is the Randolph Police policy on immigrants?
A: They're treated the same as any other resident by the Randolph Police, and the Resolution says that. The Randolph Police have no reason to ask for paperwork or documentation when interacting with anyone, unless that person is arrested for something else. The Randolph Police follow all state and federal law, and if there are changes in how state and federal law apply, the Randolph Town Council will inform the public about those changes too.

Q: Isn't "Welcoming Town" just a euphemism for "Sanctuary City"?
A: Our Resolution differentiates Randolph from Boston and other "Sanctuary Cities." We use the term "Welcoming Town" to emphasize that difference, and because we introduced the "Welcoming Town Designation" in 2018 under that name. The 2025 Resolution is actually called "Resolution Concerning Commitment to All Residents of the Town of Randolph." The term "Welcoming Town Resolution" is just a nickname. But it's a meaningful nickname to differentiate that Randolph is explicitly NOT a Sanctuary City.

Q: What does Boston do, as a Sanctuary City, that Randolph doesn't do?
A: Boston follows what they call "The Trust Act," which says that Boston Police will not honor ICE detainers -- that makes them a Sanctuary City, in my view. Randolph Police do submit ICE detainers to the courts if you are arrested, as required by state and federal law. That makes Randoplh NOT a Sanctuary City, in my view.

Q: Is that the official legal definition of a "Sanctuary City"?
A: There is no official legal definition of a "Sanctuary City." That's just a nickname that people use, like "Welcoming Town" is a nickname. What matters is whether the local police follow state and federal law. Pushing for the police to do less than the law requires -- that's my definition of a "Sanctuary City" -- Randolph doesn't do that.

Q: Does the federal government target "Sanctuary Cities"?
A: Yes, federal ICE action has targeted cities that call themselves "Sanctuary Cities," including Boston. We want to remove Randolph from that target list. A major reason we want to discuss the Welcoming Town Resolution publicly is to ensure that ICE does NOT target Randolph, because we are NOT a Sanctuary City. Our goal is to tell the federal government, "we follow federal law; please leave us alone."

Q: Will publicizing the Welcoming Town Resolution make Randolph an ICE target?
A: Randolph is already an ICE target. The federal government has focused on Haitian immigrants since last summer, and Randolph has one of the largest Haitian immigrant communities in the country. Our goal is to REMOVE Randolph from the target list by emphasizing that we follow all state and federal law. We're a small city without the resources to fight the federal government -- we don't want a fight -- we just want to be left alone.

Q: Will passing the Welcoming Town Resolution reduce Randolph's ICE targeting?
A: Maybe; we can't control what ICE does. But if you follow the national news, ICE has been conducting raids in Sanctuary Cities that focus on deporting immigrants who have committed additional crimes. One can imagine a conversation in ICE HQ about where to conduct the next raid: ICE analyst: "Hey, look, Randolph has the highest percentage minority population in Massachusetts; ICE should target them, right?" ICE policymaker: "No, they declared that they follow federal law; let's raid some place that says they won't follow federal law."

Q: What about immigrants who DO commit additional crimes?
A: The Randolph Police will arrest them, like they would arrest any other crime perpetrators. The Randolph Police would arrest them because of the additional crimes, not because of their immigration status. Undocumented immigration status does NOT count as a crime at all -- it's a civil violation. RPD have no reason to know your immigration status nor to ask your immigration status unless you are arrested for some other crime. If you ARE arrested for some other crime, the RPD does report the arrest to a national database, and an ICE detainer may follow.

Q: What do you mean by RPD doing "no more and no less" than the law requires?
A: Sanctuary Cities push to do less than the law requires. Some other cities do more than the law requires -- in particular, some Police Departments get an officer deputized as ICE agents. That means taking a training course, and then the ICE-deputized officer can arrest any deportable person and being the deportation process. Randolph Police do not deputize officers as ICE agents, and have no intent to ever do so -- it's not a requirement of state or federal law.

Q: What if the federal or state law changes?
A: Then we would have to change RPD policy accordingly. I asked the Randolph Police Chief at the Subcommittee hearing on the Welcoming Town Resolution about the process of how the RPD might adopt a policy of deputizing ICE agents, and the Police Chief responded that the Town Manager and Town Council would be involved -- it's not something that could happen secretly by the RPD.

Q: Why do you support "no more and no less" than the law requires?
A: That is the long-standing policy of the RPD. When we wrote the 2018 Welcoming Town Resolution, it was the long-standing RPD policy then, too. I consider that policy to be a compromise between "Sanctuary City" status and "Deputizing ICE" policy. I support that compromise policy as the middle ground between those two extremes, and I appreciate that the RPD and the past Town government has chosen that middle ground for a long time.

Q: Why do we need to do anything if "no more and no less" is long-standing RPD policy?
A: Nothing has changed since 2018 or earlier, except that the news media now focus on ICE enforcement and deportation of immigrants. In practice for local Police Departments, what matters is how they handle ICE detainers. If RPD were to deputize ICE agents, those ICE agents could arrest people for immigration violations -- but we don't do that. However, it's not required to be an ICE agent to handle ICE detainers initiated by ICE.

Q: What's an ICE detainer?
A: ICE keeps a list of people who they want to deport, and compares that list to people arrested for other crimes. When they see a deportable person is arrested for some other crime, they send a notice to the local police that the person is deportable. The Randolph Police do pass that ICE detainer on to the courts, when the arrested person has a court hearing. Boston and other Sanctuary Cities do NOT pass ICE detainers on to the courts.

Q: Where does Boston say that they ignore ICE detainers?
A: The Boston Trust Act section B says "A law enforcement official shall not detain an individual solely on the basis of a civil immigration detainer request or an ICE administrative warrant after the individual is eligible for release from custody, unless ICE has a criminal warrant." In practice, that means the Boston Police Department don't send the ICE detainer to court when a person has a hearing after being arrested. Randolph police do. Source: Boston Trust Act 11-1.9: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/boston/latest/boston_ma/0-0-0-7416

Q: Where does Randolph say that they honor ICE detainers?
A: Here's an excerpt of what the former Randolph Police Chief said is the RPD policy on ICE detainers, as recorded in our 2018 Resolution: "Upon the presentation by ICE of a detainer for the detention of a person arrested by RPD in the course of enforcing state and local laws, the RPD will maintain custody of the person for sufficient time to bring to the attention of the court officials responsible for decisions upon bail." In practice, that means the Randolph Police Department DOES send the ICE detainer to court when a person has a hearing after being arrested. Boston police do not.

Q: So immigrants arrested in Boston can avoid ICE and immigrants arrested in Randolph can't?
A: No, ICE has the right to re-arrest people anyway. But in practice, ICE prefers to go to court hearings, where they know the suspect will be released at a particular time, and they know the person won't be armed. Massachusetts courts have a similar philosophy as Randolph -- "do what the law requires, no more and no less" -- the courts don't hold ICE detainer suspects for longer than required. But the court wouldn't even know that the person has an ICE detainer unless the local police send the paperwork to the court -- which RPD does, and BPD does not.

Q: What about ICE revoking Green Cards?
A: "Green Cards" are an immigration status that entitles the immigrant to permanent legal residency in the United States. In recent news, ICE has targeted Green Card holders -- but only by charging them with other crimes (since they have legal documentation status). In general, ICE has only targeted people charged with other crimes -- ICE has not targeted people who have committed the civil violation of crossing the border without documentation. ICE can change their targeting, but that has been their method to date: target criminals for deportation; do not target undocumented immigrants.

Q: Why is the "Welcoming Resolution" all about police and arrests?
A: It's not -- but that's where the national news focuses. 99% of all immigrants are law-abiding people, and we want to inform them that they are welcome, and that they should have no fear of participating in Randolph society, including dealing with the Randolph Police. The 1% who do have criminal warrants are the focus for ICE and the focus for the national news media. The Randolph Welcoming Town Resolution addresses the 99% by reassuring them that they are welcome. The Randolph Welcoming Town Resolution addresses the 1% of criminals by noting that the RPD follows all state and federal law.

Q: So what's the bottom line? Why should the Randolph Town Council pass the Welcoming Town Resolution?
A: Because we want immigrants to feel welcome, and in the current national climate, they have many reasons to not feel welcome. And because we want to go on record that RPD follows state and federal law so that ICE doesn't target Randolph. Please support the Welcoming Town Resolution!

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