PITTSFIELD — As rumors about immigration enforcement circulate across Berkshire County, Pittsfield officials are urging residents to slow down, check facts and understand their rights.

The speculation comes amid heightened national attention on immigration enforcement, including reports of increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in several major cities and a widespread operation in Maine that launched earlier this week. But Pittsfield officials said there is no indication of any planned or ongoing ICE activity in the city.

According to Mayor Peter Marchetti and Pittsfield Police Captain Matthew Hill, the city has not received any recent notifications from federal immigration authorities about planned ICE operations in Pittsfield.

The most recent confirmed notification, Marchetti said, occurred in March 2025.

Hill said that when ICE does notify local officials, it typically happens the same day agents arrive. Even when the city is contacted, Marchetti said the notice is often so last-minute that there is little opportunity to inform the public.

Hundreds of people gathered at Park Square in Pittsfield to protest ICE activity on Jan. 11. Mayor Peter Marchetti said that while residents have the right to protest, any demonstrations must remain peaceful.

However, Marchetti said the city would not issue public announcements about ICE activity even if it received advance notice, citing safety concerns.

“I think people are safer if they don't know what's going on and there's less people involved in the situation,” he said.

Marchetti said it’s important for residents to understand the limits of what the city can do when federal agents are involved.

“We're not going to go out and assist, but we can't stop them from being here,” he said.

He also warned that misinformation, particularly on social media, can heighten fear within undocumented communities.

“Creating a false sense that they're here is actually causing more damage than it is being helpful,” Marchetti said. “Because the fear that they're creating in the eyes of the people who are fearful only helps step it up a notch … if we want to do anything, it's to educate and share each person's rights and responsibilities.”

City officials encouraged residents who believe ICE may be active in the area to contact city government directly rather than posting online.

“We do appreciate when people reach out to us directly … there are operations that happen in our city,” said Catherine VanBramer, the city’s director of administrative services and public information officer, pointing to a recent Pittsfield Police Department operation that was mistakenly identified as ICE activity on social media before residents contacted city officials for clarification.

Hill said that while ICE may notify local law enforcement as a courtesy, the Pittsfield Police Department does not assist in ICE operations unless there is a public safety concern and agents call for assistance, which he said has not happened in recent years.

“Even before ICE became as controversial as it has, they've always kind of given us a call, said they were going to be in the area, or sometimes even give us the location where they are, and they've just done their own thing,” Hill said. “We haven't really done anything to assist them.”

Per Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s guidance, “local law enforcement cannot be compelled to carry out federal civil immigration enforcement, and their cooperation with ICE must comply with state and local legal limitations.”

Police also cannot hold individuals solely based on an ICE detainer, which is an administrative request rather than a judicial order.

However, police also cannot interfere with or impede federal immigration enforcement operations per federal law.

City employees are also required to follow a specific protocol if ICE agents arrive at a municipal building. The guidance instructs staff to remain calm and professional, avoid interfering with ICE operations and not volunteer information.

Employees are instructed to ask agents to identify themselves, state their purpose and provide any warrants. If ICE agents appear at City Hall, Marchetti said they should be directed to the mayor, the police chief or the city solicitor.

The protocol distinguishes between administrative warrants and judicial warrants. Administrative warrants, which are not signed by a judge, do not authorize ICE to enter non-public areas or detain individuals without consent, and employees are not required to comply or answer questions. But, if a judicial warrant signed by a judge is presented, city officials said employees are required to comply and notify city leadership.

Marchetti said understanding this distinction is critical for residents.

Pittsfield protesters remembered Renee Nicole Good, who was shot dead by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis.

ICE agents cannot enter private spaces, such as homes or private offices, without a judicial warrant signed by a judge or voluntary consent from someone with authority over the property. ICE may, however, arrest individuals in public places without a judicial warrant.

He added that while residents have the right to protest, any demonstrations must remain peaceful.

“If you interfere with an ICE investigation, I cannot save you [and] PPD cannot save you,” Marchetti said. “A, we need to know the law. B, we need to be prepared.”