That left immigration agents to track him down on their own. He was taken into custody in March and subsequently deported.
The situation underscores how law enforcement in the state is caught between the political ideology of deep-blue Massachusetts and a federal administration that says local authorities can and should do more — especially when a crime is involved.
“I believe law enforcement should always cooperate to protect our communities,” Massachusetts US Attorney Leah B. Foley said in an interview. She said it’s “always going to be safer” for officers, bystanders, and targets when police transfer custody of someone directly to immigration officials.
Local law enforcement officials say they have to thread a needle between cooperating with federal authorities on some matters, such as when a crime is involved, while deferring to community interests and state law that prevent them from arresting or detaining anyone for civil immigration violations.
“There are people that commit crimes that really should not be here and they should be removed,” Norwood Police Chief Christopher Padden said during a telephone interview.
But, he added, police are focused on building partnerships with city residents that encourage them to come forward and report crimes, regardless of their immigration status.
“No victim should be afraid to call us when they need help,” he said.
Local police departments, Padden said during the interview, “are caught in a difficult situation between trying to protect victims of crime and support the community, and trying to be good partners with federal law enforcement.”
In press releases, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement highlights its arrests of people accused of violent crimes here. (Nearly half of the nearly 1,500 people who were arrested during an ICE operation in May, for example, did not have a criminal record).
Meantime, authorities have threatened to withhold critical federal funding for police departments that do not comply with immigration authorities, though those efforts have been paused by the courts. And in Boston, the Department of Homeland Security sued the city over its Trust Act, which limits cooperation between police and immigration agents, saying the policy is “designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal aliens from justice.”
Federal authorities say there are numerous examples like that of Najera-Perez in which local police could have done more to detain and help deport a convicted criminal. Najera-Perez, 30, of Honduras, was arrested in March 2024 for driving without a license, then arrested the following month and again that September for operating under the influence.
Since there wasn’t a federal warrant to detain him on a criminal charge, he was freed on bail for the Norwood incidents.
ICE eventually arrested him in March 2025 on a charge of unlawful reentry after deportation. The government alleged he was apprehended after crossing the border at the Rio Grande Valley in Texas in 2014 and deported, according to a court filing. The new charge of unlawful reentry was dismissed in June after he was deported.
“Sanctuary policies like those pushed by [Boston] not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said.
ICE has signed new cooperation agreements across the country with police and sheriffs who run jails and prisons, essentially deputizing them to work on immigration matters: 1,035 agreements covering 40 states, according to the most recent information on its website.
But in Massachusetts, the only such agreement is with the state Department of Correction. And so far, communities in the state are continuing to maintain their status as “sanctuary cities” or pledges to not participate in immigration enforcement.
Last week, Holyoke city councilors rejected a resolution that would have declared their community is not a “sanctuary city,” an effort that started out as an intent to preserve federal funding.
Days before, the Worcester City Council passed a resolution barring police from partnering with ICE to enforce immigration law. The declaration came after an incident in May in which protesters clashed with federal agents and Worcester police when a Brazilian woman was taken into custody by ICE agents in front of her daughters, including one who was holding a baby in her arms.
The city has “been clear about creating a boundary line” when it comes to cooperating with immigration officials, said Worcester City Manager Eric D. Batista, who oversees the police department and issued an executive order after the confrontation in May stating municipal employees and officers shall not inquire about anyone’s immigration status.
If ICE wants help with criminal activity, the agency must provide Worcester police with information or paperwork detailing the purpose of the request and the scope of the department’s involvement, Batista said.
“If it’s regarding immigration, we’re hands-off,” Batista said. “We’re not going to participate in any activity whenever it involves civil infractions.”
Batista said the Police Department recently rejected a request from ICE to tow a car that belonged to someone who had been detained by immigration agents because it was related to a civil enforcement.
Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association issued guidance to its members about cooperating with immigration officials, based on a 2017 ruling by the state’s highest court. In that decision, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Massachusetts law enforcement agencies cannot hold someone beyond their lawful release time based solely on a federal civil immigration detainer, which is an administrative request from a federal agency and not a judicial warrant.
The association advises officers may cooperate with ICE on criminal matters, but can’t detain people solely for civil immigration violations; departments can’t be required to participate in immigration enforcement, but cannot interfere with ICE operations; information sharing with ICE is allowed and, at a minimum, must align with public records law.
If someone is suspected of a federal immigration-related crime, such as human trafficking, Massachusetts officials may cooperate with ICE just as they would on any federal criminal investigation, according to the advisory. However, police can’t hold them beyond their legal release date unless provided with a judicial warrant.
“It doesn’t mean that we can’t provide information to ICE if they come in looking for information on a target,” said Michael Bradley, executive director of the chiefs association, adding police have discretion to contact ICE about someone in state custody. “I would say that discretion is probably used in cases where there’s this concern about public safety.”
Bradley said it would be easier for police if there was a way to work through immigration cases on a consistent basis, but there are also political pressures that vary in communities.
Shelley Murphy can be reached at shelley.murphy@globe.com. Follow her @shelleymurph.
