Emmanuel Damas was a beloved son, brother, and member of the Dorchester community. He immigrated from Haiti to the United States in 2024 to reunite with his brothers and mother, and had an asylum claim in process.

Emmanuel died on March 2, 2026 in U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody after experiencing severe medical neglect. He repeatedly reported a toothache to Florence Correctional Center staff but received no medical care until two weeks later, after he collapsed and fell into a coma.

Our carceral immigration system failed Emmanuel many times over, most obviously in ICE’s systemic neglect of his right to quality medical care. However, Massachusetts law enforcement likely also bears responsibility in Emmanuel’s wrongful death.

Within hours of entering Boston Police Department custody and then Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department custody on September 14, 2025, Emmanuel was transferred to ICE custody. Boston is supposed to be a “Sanctuary City,” but the instantaneous sharing of fingerprint data with multiple federal law enforcement agencies created a de facto collaboration with ICE. If all possible measures were in place in Massachusetts to minimize this collaboration, it is possible that Emmanuel’s death could have been prevented.

The Damas family and the LUCE Immigrant Justice Network of MA join together with people of conscience across the City of Boston and the state of Massachusetts to raise the following demands:

• We call on Governor Maura Healey to launch an independent review of the actions taken and current standard practices by both the Boston Police Department and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department that led to Emmanuel Damas entering the criminal legal system and ultimately being transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

• We call on Governor Healey to act further in severing all ties between state and local law enforcement and ICE, including ending the Department of Corrections 287(g) contract and barring data sharing, such as fingerprints, that ultimately alerts ICE. This includes shutting down the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), which targets Black and Brown communities by conducting surveillance on Boston-area residents.

• We call on Mayor Michelle Wu to ensure a transparent city-level review of all policies, communications, and practices within the Boston Police Department that may have contributed to Emmanuel Damas being transferred to ICE custody.

Join us in signing this petition to hold our city and state accountable for the role local law enforcement played in the wrongful death of Emmanuel Damas.