A state judge has directed the Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office to hand over hundreds of anonymized health records belonging to immigrant detainees held at the county’s correctional facility, ruling that state public records law takes precedence in the dispute.
Judge James Budreau issued the order after attorneys for the sheriff’s office and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts presented arguments in Suffolk County Superior Court last month. The Sheriff’s Office indicated it would comply with the ruling. The decision addresses a novel legal question about the scope of state public records laws when federal immigration enforcement is involved.
The ACLU had filed suit to obtain records generated for detainees at Plymouth County Correctional Facility, the only immigrant detention facility in Massachusetts. The Sheriff’s Office had denied a public records request, contending that a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement signed in 2024 created a federal preemption that superseded state transparency requirements. During oral arguments on July 7, the Sheriff’s Office argued that federal immigration law prevented disclosure of the health records.
Budreau rejected this reasoning, finding that Massachusetts maintained authority over matters pertaining to health and safety conditions at state facilities regardless of federal immigration authority. The judge noted that state public records law was not attempting to regulate immigration itself but rather establishing government transparency regarding detainee welfare at a state-run institution. The ruling allows the records to be released with personal identifiers removed, such as detainees’ names and registration numbers.
Plymouth County Correctional Facility has housed immigrant detainees since 1998 and currently dedicates 250 beds to ICE detainees at a rate of $215 per occupied bed daily. The ACLU cited reports of inadequate medical care and fatal outcomes in immigration detention as justification for access to the health records, arguing that transparency regarding medical conditions is essential to protecting detainee welfare.
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