POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The Durbin reverb

 

By Kelly Garrity With help from Lisa Kashinsky AGE IS JUST A NUMBER — Ed Markey is officially the oldest Democratic senator seeking reelection in 2026, at a time when Democrats are clamoring for generational change . Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin is retiring at the end of his term, he announced on social media Wednesday. The Democratic whip's decision will usher in a new era of leadership on multiple fronts. Not only is it setting off a scramble among younger Illinois pols to fill the Senate seat (Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, 51, and Lauren Underwood, 38 are seen as likely contenders), it's also opening a top Senate leadership spot. Durbin is the latest in a line of 65+ year-old Democrats to opt out of another Senate bid. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters , 66,; Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith , 67; and New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen , 78, are all hanging it up when their terms end. But Markey, 78, is all in — even amid chatter about a potential primary challenge from younger Bay State politicians like Reps. Jake Auchincloss or Ayanna Pressley (who both have avoided publicly ruling it out). The full-steam-ahead campaign from Markey, who was first elected to Congress in 1976, has drawn criticism from some advocates who say that after nearly five decades in Washington, now is the time to pass the torch. “People should be pressuring him to retire and make this his last term,” said Amanda Litman, who leads Run For Something, a group that encourages young Democrats to seek office. “There is an incredible bench of talent in Massachusetts. … Is Ed Markey so incredible that there is no other politician in Massachusetts who would be as good as a representative of that community as he is in the state? I don’t think so.” Local strategists, however, point out that Markey already faced a generational test in 2020 and won by double digits. And they argue that the reckoning within the Democratic Party is less about age than it is about incumbents’ ability to respond to the moment they’re in, with little real leverage in Washington. “It's much less about age or how long you've been there and more about, do you have a response to Democratic voters who are looking for something new and different and don't believe that the existing status quo has got us into a good place,” longtime Democratic strategist Doug Rubin told Playbook. “They want to know, where do we go from here?” The circumstances have changed since his success in 2020. Democrats are still struggling to answer questions about former President Joe Biden’s fitness. Markey is without his former adviser, John Walsh, the late Democratic operative who was essential to propelling him to victory last time around. And the Gen Z army that powered Markey’s success against former Rep. Joe Kennedy III isn’t what it used to be . Still, Markey has been making a point of trying not to let his age show. He’s been stopping at town halls and protests across the state, and earlier this week he traveled to Louisiana to meet with Rümeysa Öztürk, the Tufts University student who was seized by ICE last month. “You look at Ed Markey and you don't see his chronological age,” Tony Cignoli, a Democratic strategist based in western Massachusetts, told Playbook. “He comes across as so energetic. He's everywhere.” GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Tips? scoops? Thinking about a Senate run? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.  TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at a ribbon cutting for American Ancestors’ new headquarters at 10 a.m. Attorney General Andrea Campbell participates in a fireside chat with Boston Bar Association President Matt McTygue at 5:15 p.m. in Boston. Auditor Diana DiZoglio speaks at state Sen. Jamie Eldridge's Annual Senior Conference at 11:45 a.m. in Marlborough and attends the annual Take Back the Night event in Lowell at 5:30 p.m. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com .    Policy moves fast—stay ahead with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant. Effortlessly search POLITICO's archive of 1M+ news articles, analysis documents, and legislative text. Track legislation, showcase your impact, and generate custom reports in seconds. Designed for POLITICO Pro subscribers, this tool helps you make faster, smarter decisions. Start exploring now .     DATELINE BEACON HILL — Healey vowed more gubernatorial mercy. Those convicted of murder wait to hear if that means them. by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe: “Last summer, a state board made one of Massachusetts’ rarest political recommendations: William Florentino, convicted in 1978 of taking part in a deadly robbery, should be released from his first-degree murder sentence. Then, it told Governor Maura Healey that Edward Fielding — convicted 50 years ago of first-degree murder — should also have his sentence commuted. It’s still unclear when, or if, they will.” ****REPUBLICANS HAVE NO SOLUTIONS!**** — Massachusetts spending on shelters housing migrants, locals tops $700M in FY25, data shows by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey’s administration has spent more than $700 million this fiscal year on taxpayer-funded shelters housing migrants and local families, even as the number of households in shelter dropped below 5,000 last week, according to public data. The total amount the Healey administration has spent on the emergency assistance program through last week is still short of the $1 billion projection for the fiscal year that ends July 1. But the cash shuttled to shelters through mid-April is still far above historical norms.” BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAY WALL MAGA REPUBLICANS HAVE IGNORED HOMELESSNESS & WITH TRUMP'S TARIFF LUNACY, MATERIALS WILL INCREASE IN COST.  WHAT SOLUTIONS HAVE REPLICANS OFFERED?  NONE! ****DURING ONE OF BERNIE SANDERS RALLIES, HE COMMENTED THAT THERE ARE 800 000 HOMELESS (LIKELY AN UNDERCOUNT). WE NEED TO FIND REASONABLE SOLUTIONS, NOT CRIMINALIZE HOMELESSNESS! VULTURE CAPITALISTS HAVE DRIVEN UP RENTS & DEMOCRATS HAVE OFFERED PROPOSALS THAT ARE IGNORED!*** THESE ARE SMALL HOMES THAT OFFER PPRIVACY & DIGNITY - IT'S A BEGINNING: Arnold Schwarzenegger donates 25 tiny houses to homeless veterans NY POST THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION! LOWELL:  — Longtime homeless encampment in Lowell is razed by Lynn Jolicoeur, WBUR: “Crews on Tuesday began what will be a days-long process to clear out a large homeless encampment along the Merrimack River in Lowell. Workers from a private waste removal company used track loaders and dumpsters to remove tents, furniture, and piles of clothing, blankets and garbage.” FROM THE HUB ****FACED WITH A CRITICAL HOUSING SHORTAGE, TRUMP'S ECONOMIC LUNACY & CHAOS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!**** — Boston homebuilding hits decade-low as permits plummet by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: “Homebuilding in Greater Boston is reaching lows not seen in more than a decade. Cities and towns in the Boston metro area permitted 2,100 privately owned housing units in the first three months of 2025, the slowest start to a year since 2013, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data. The decline is significant. The year-to-date total is down 38% through March, the largest such drop since 2008.” PAY WALL THE RACE FOR CITY HALL FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Easthampton City Councilors Peg Conniff and Brad Riley are endorsing Lindsi Sekula in her bid to become the city’s next mayor. Sekula “embodies the kind of compassionate, community-rooted leadership Easthampton needs,” Riley said in a statement. And, according to Conniff, she “understands the importance of transparency, clear communication, and meaningful community engagement.” COUNCIL COMPETITION —  Nominations papers won’t be available until next week, but Boston City Council candidates are starting to declare their candidacy — and it looks like some incumbents could face competition. There’s a crowded race brewing for the four at-large seats.  Eleven potential candidates have declared their intent to run at-large as of Wednesday. That includes all but one at-large incumbent, Councilor Henry Santana, though he told Playbook earlier this week that he's running for a second term. In District 9, Councilor Liz Breadon could see a challenge from Pilar Ortiz,  who is chief of staff in the city’s Legal Department. The campaign has been “a long time plan of mine,” said Ortiz, who is looking to campaign on a pitch to strengthen community connection in the Allston-Brighton area. ***BOSTON: BE WARY OF ANONYMOUS $$$ FROM SUPER PACS & THE WEALTHY! SCRUTINIZE THE CANDIDATES! THE NEWTON NEBBISH HAS OFFERED NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE, INCLUDING HIS SOLUTIONS FOR MASS & CASS!  THE NEWTON NEBBISH RAISED FUNDS AMONG THE WEALTHY FOR HIS LIMITED PET PROJECTS....DOES HE REALLY OFFER SOLUTIONS? THE MASS & CASS ISSUE REQUIRES MORE THAN A GLOSSY SLAP-DASH SOLUTION....THAT'S NOT WHAT THE NEWTON NEBBISH IS PROPOSING!**** — New Balance chairman drops $1 million on Josh Kraft super PAC by Gintautas Dumcius, CommonWealth Beacon: “Jim Davis, the multi-billionaire chairman of shoemaker New Balance, is once again opening up his wallet and wading into Boston politics. Earlier this month, he sent $1 million to an outside group supporting Josh Kraft’s bid to unseat Mayor Michelle Wu, according to campaign finance filings made public late Friday afternoon. The money went towards a super political action committee (PAC), which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, named Your City Your Future.” excerpt:  JIM DAVIS, the multi-billionaire chairman of shoemaker New Balance, is once again opening up his wallet and wading into Boston politics. Earlier this month, he sent $1 million to an outside group supporting Josh Kraft’s bid to unseat Mayor Michelle Wu, according to campaign finance filings made public late Friday afternoon. The money went towards a super political action committee (PAC), which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, named Your City Your Future. Super PACs are expected to play a large role in this election cycle, as political operatives consider them more impactful at the local level. While donors are limited to contributing $1,000 to a candidate’s campaign committee in a calendar year, super PACs offer the opportunity to donate a larger sum. Super PACs operate with fewer restrictions, though they cannot coordinate with the campaign of the candidate they are supporting. Davis’s donation was by far the largest received by the pro-Kraft super PAC, which also took in six-figure sums from Robert Hale, the CEO of Quincy-based Granite Telecommunications, who donated $100,000, and John J. Calnan, CEO of a construction management company also based in Quincy, who gave$150,000. Marc Casper, the CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific, the state’s largest medical device company, donated $10,000. Spokespeople for the donors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The $1 million figure is a little less than Davis spent in all of 2021, the last mayoral election cycle, which featured Wu and another city councilor, Annissa Essaibi George. Davis poured nearly $1.1 million into a different super PAC after a private meeting with Essaibi George, inside his Brighton warehouse full of classic cars. Essaibi George was considered to be the more conservative mayoral candidate, while Wu is a progressive mentored by US Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Davis, 81, has donated millions of dollars over the last 20 years to Massachusetts Democrats and Republicans, according to a review of campaign finance records, as well as nearly $400,000 to Donald Trump in 2016. In the last few municipal election cycles, he has focused on backing moderate to conservative candidates. The Kraft super PAC is run by Rebecca St. Amand, an attorney at Vicente LLP, a law firm specializing in the cannabis industry. She did not respond to a request for comment. The super PAC’s campaign finance filing also included one expenditure: $100,000 for digital advertising, sent to a just-formed company run by Jonathan Karush, who has ties to Keyser Public Strategies, a company that is advising Kraft’s mayoral campaign. Eileen O’Connor, a partner at Keyser Public Strategies, is a board member of MassINC, the nonprofit that publishes CommonWealth Beacon. The Kraft super PAC has set up a Facebook site, with posts taking aim at planned school closures and the installation of bike lanes, which Kraft has also criticized while on the campaign trail. The Kraft campaign declined comment, but one of its advisers, Will Keyser, said in February they would not wave off super PAC support, as Essaibi George unsuccessfully attempted in 2021. Kraft, one of the sons of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has already pulled in $733,000 in donations, much of the haul coming from the Boston region’s business sector, since he launched his campaign in February. Wu, who has nearly $2 million in cash on hand, is expected to see support from super PACs, too, as she did during the last mayoral election, when the money came from environmental groups and lawyers. Bold Boston, a super PAC that backed Wu’s slate of City Council candidates in 2023, received $100,000 from the 1199 SEIU health care workers union days after the union endorsed her in March. In 2021, Wu urged super PACs to stay positive, and she sounded a similar note when asked about super PACs at her campaign kickoff several weeks ago in Boston’s South End. “All signs are that there will be a lot of resources poured into this race,” Wu told reporters. “I hope that they will not be entirely focused on amplifying negative and false narratives about our city and the people who live here. But we’ve already seen some of that happening and I intend to make sure that the truth of Boston, who we are and what we stand for, remains front and center throughout the race.” DAY IN COURT ***THIS IS TRUMP'S WAR AGAINST FREEDOM OF SPEECH! SHE COMMITTED NO CRIME.....MORE ICE ABUSE!**** — Federal government appeals ruling ordering detained Tufts student’s return to Vermont by Alan J. Keays, VT Digger: “The federal government is appealing a judge’s ruling ordering the transfer of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University student currently detained in Louisiana at an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, to a Vermont facility. Federal Judge William K. Sessions III issued his ruling Friday in U.S. District Court in Burlington ordering that Öztürk, who is Turkish and was in the United States on a student visa, be transferred back to a Vermont facility by May 1.” FROM SENATOR MARKEY:  Yesterday I visited two ICE detention facilities in Louisiana, where I met with my constituent Rümeysa Öztürk, as well as Mahmoud Khalil. Rümeysa and Mahmoud were arrested by ICE and taken to this facility for deportation. They are legal US residents who have not been charged with crimes and made no violations of their terms of residency. Their only charge was exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. They must be released now. This isn’t about immigration or about national security — it’s repression, it’s authoritarianism, it’s unconstitutional. And we must fight back. Please, take just 60 seconds to sign our petition demanding the release of Rümeysa, Mahmoud, and all of those who are wrongfully held in detention by the Trump administration >> ADD YOUR NAME I was happy to speak with Rümeysa and Mahmoud and hear that despite everything, they are in good spirits. But this experience has been traumatic for them and a hardship for their families and communities. Rümeysa Öztürk came to Tufts University to continue her studies, and while there she helped write an op-ed critical of the university’s response to the pro-Palestine protests. That one op-ed was enough for the Trump administration to send masked ICE agents to abduct her from the street and secretly send her away to Louisiana, without any explanation of why she was being imprisoned or access to her lawyer. And both Rümeysa and Mahmoud were taken to these ICE facilities in Louisiana, more than a thousand miles from their homes, because Trump wanted them under the jurisdiction of a far-right judge who wouldn’t challenge his plan to deport them despite their First Amendment protections. The Trump administration is weaponizing our immigration system to crack down on free speech. It’s unAmerican and I will not stand for it. I and other members of Congress are doing everything we can to shine a light on Trump’s cruel, authoritarian, and unconstitutional actions, but the best way we can fight back is with continued grassroots action. We must keep building our movement for democracy, decency, and a better way forward. We have to keep applying pressure on this administration and demanding accountability from the halls of Congress to the streets of every city and town in this country. Join me in standing up to this corrupt and lawless administration. Sign on to our petition right now demanding that DHS release those who are wrongfully held in detention. Our movement is growing in strength each and every day, and your signature helps us keep that momentum going. ADD YOUR NAME Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil may be the first to go through this horrible ordeal, but they certainly won’t be the last. Trump’s State Department has already revoked hundreds of student visas in the last two months, and they’ve announced plans to monitor the social media of millions of legal U.S. residents to lay the groundwork for deportation. It’s time to speak out, take action, and do everything we can as the Trump administration continues down this path of eroding free speech and basic rights. In solidarity, Ed Markey FROM THE DELEGATION ****WE ARE A COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE WHO CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER IN THEIR TIMES OF NEED & WORK TOGETHER TO REDUCE FUTURE IMPACTS... — Lawmakers rip Trump's cuts to FEMA funding by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “Members of the state’s congressional delegation are leading a group of Democrats criticizing the Trump administration’s cuts to funding for climate change resiliency projects. In a letter to acting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Cameron Hamilton, Rep. Seth Moulton and 27 other Democratic lawmakers expressed ‘strong opposition’ to the agency’s decision to end federal funding from the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.” PAY WALL FROM THE 413 — Northampton City Council again advances broker’s fee prohibition request to Legislature for approval by Alexander MacDougall, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “The City Council is once again asking the state Legislature for permission to prohibit landlords and real estate brokers from charging prospective tenants a broker’s fee to rent property in the city. At its April 17 meeting, the council unanimously approved a special order to make the request for the second time. The Legislature did not act on its initial request in 2022 and the council had to approve the order again and reintroduce it for the Legislature to consider it in a new session.” — Great Barrington reopens its search for town manager after rejecting the first two candidates by Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle: “Town officials say they want a larger hiring pool to choose from as they reject the first two candidates found by a consultant. They say they are looking for the right ‘fit.’” THE LOCAL ANGLE — Housing is so expensive on Martha’s Vineyard, the hospital is building apartments for its workers by Andrew Brinker, The Boston Globe. — College faculty stage anti-Trump rally at Worcester City Hall by Jesse Collings, Telegram & Gazette: “Higher education professionals from across Worcester spoke out against the Trump administration's actions targeting higher education during a protest outside Worcester City Hall on April 23. … The protest, titled "Knowledge is Power," was led by Clark faculty Chair Kristen Williams, a professor of political science. Williams said she had never organized a political rally before, but felt the time was right for her to work with her colleagues from institutions across Worcester to speak out about what is happening at the federal level and the impact it will have locally.” EXCERPTS; WORCESTER ― Higher education professionals from across Worcester spoke out against the Trump administration's actions targeting higher education during a protest outside Worcester City Hall April 23. "There is chaos, there is confusion, there is suffering and there is fear and that is by design, but now is not the time to be afraid," Deborah Kisatsky, associate professor of history at Assumption University, said. "Now is the time to be brave." The protest, titled "Knowledge is Power," was led by Clark faculty chair Kristen Williams, a professor of political science. Williams said she had never organized a political rally before but felt the time was right for her to work with her colleagues from institutions across Worcester to speak out about what is happening at the federal level and the impact it will have locally. "As a political scientist, the political stuff is obviously front and center of what I do and seeing what the Trump administration is doing, the attacks on higher education, funding, all of things our speakers talked about, and we have all these wonderful universities in Worcester and we should come together," Williams said. "I told our steering committee that we are going to have a Worcester-wide rally." Over the past few months, the administration has threatened to withhold federal funding and grants from colleges and universities due to what the administration has called "discriminatory DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) practices," allegations of antisemitism and liberal bias. Over 100 faculty members, students and members of the public gathered for the rally, as different speakers associated with Clark, UMass Chan Medical School and Assumption University spoke. A frequent topic during the speeches was the freeze on federal grant funding, which directly restricts research being done at institutions such as UMass Chan. Rachel Sirianni, a professor of neuroscience at UMass Chan, said the country's position as a leading innovator in medicine is being threatened. "When NIH (National Institutes of Health) is attacked, the scientific endeavor as a whole grinds to a halt. These attacks are immediately harmful to people like myself and the scientific fields we've dedicated our lives to, but the worst is yet to come," Sirianni said. "Up until now our country has been the undisputed global leader in science, technology and medicine. STEM is America's powerhouse." Other issues include the revocation of visas for college students including 12 different Clark students earlier this month. Amy Walker, an associate professor at UMass Chan, said colleges and universities provide the backbone of Worcester and attract people from all over the world to contribute to the city. "Worcester's colleges and universities are the core of our community and there are obvious ways in which these institutions are important," Walker said. "They build a vibrant economy that supports people that have always lived here, and they provide and attract other people that have come from other parts of the country and other nations to be part of the community." On April 22, more than 200 college presidents signed a letter promoted by the American Association of Colleges and Universities speaking out against "government intrusion" into higher education. Signatories included Clark President David Fithian, Holy Cross President Vincent Rougeau, UMass Chan Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins and Mount Wachusett Community College President James Vander Hooven. Devin Moss, a junior at Clark, said during the rally that while the letter presents a unified front, it is time for collective action from students, faculty and members of the public. Moss asked the audience to imagine what they believe college should be and to take action to make that belief the reality on campus. "We need more than signing on to letters. We need collective action and that action needs to be resistance. Our power lies in what we can imagine together," Moss said. "We must build a shared vision for what our schools could look like." — First female mayor of Haverhill's first State of the City address by Jonah Frangiosa, The Eagle-Tribune: “Mayor Melinda Barrett made history Tuesday night as she delivered her first State of the City address — the first woman ever to do so in the city. At the halfway point of her two-year term, she stood at the podium and gave a speech that touched on housing, economic development, public safety and municipal infrastructure.” — Two undocumented immigrants arrested in the city’s North End by Eleonora Bianchi and Gerardo Beltran Salinas, The New Bedford Light: “Federal agents arrested two Guatemalan men, one with a criminal record, in New Bedford’s North End early Wednesday morning as they were heading to work. The detainment marks at least 17 people who have been arrested in the city since Jan. 20 as part of the Trump administration’s ‘enhanced’ operation in Massachusetts to detain and deport immigrants.” excerpt:  NEW BEDFORD — Federal agents arrested two Guatemalan men, one with a criminal record, in New Bedford’s North End early Wednesday morning as they were heading to work. The detainment marks at least 17 people who have been arrested in the city since Jan. 20 as part of the Trump administration’s “enhanced” operation in Massachusetts to detain and deport immigrants.  Federal agents wearing bulletproof vests — one of them bearing an ATF logo on the front — approached the men, Jose DeLeon Ventura and Andres Colaj Olmos, on Coggeshall Street, near the Market Basket, around 5:30 a.m., according to Adrian Ventura, executive director of the Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores (CCT) in New Bedford. Ventura said he received a voicemail from a man reporting a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement presence in front of Popeyes and McDonald’s, according to a recording reviewed by The Light. The caller told Ventura that he was leaving his apartment a few blocks from McDonald’s when he saw three agents approaching workers and asking for their documents. “Witnesses tell me that the agents approached them very calmly and quietly,” Ventura said. “They asked for their documents and told them they were looking for them.” Around 6 a.m., Ventura received another call — this time from DeLeon Ventura’s brother, who said DeLeon Ventura had called him to report the arrest.  According to Adrian Ventura, the two men who were arrested are of undocumented status, while a third man, also a worker, was not detained because his documentation was in order. Ventura said the men are painters and were wearing work clothes. Colaj Olmos requested a change of clothes be brought to the Burlington Detention Center, where he is being held, Ventura said. Court records reviewed by The Light show DeLeon Ventura, 30, has a criminal record in New Bedford: two charges in 2023 for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol; and another two in 2024 for driving with a suspended license and without an inspection sticker, both of which were dismissed.  For the OUI charges, he is on probation through January 2026, court records show, and could have the charges dismissed on the condition he completes a state-mandated alcohol education program.  It is unclear if Colaj Olmos has a criminal history. Adrian Ventura said he does not, and a search within the court system by The Light did not yield results for him.  An ICE spokesperson did not respond to questions Wednesday on why federal agents arrested DeLeon Ventura and Colaj Olmos, and whether Colaj Olmos has a criminal record.  Wednesday’s arrests come on the heel of an April 14 operation during which a Guatemalan immigrant with no Massachusetts criminal record was arrested on Tallman Street after federal agents shattered the glass on his vehicle with an axe as he and his wife waited inside the car for their lawyer to arrive. Juan Francisco Méndez, 29, who was taken to a correctional facility in New Hampshire, has been in the United States for two years and was undocumented, but pursuing an adjustment of his immigration status, according to his attorney, Ondine Gálvez. Méndez’s wife, Marilú Domingo Ortiz, a beneficiary of an asylum program, had petitioned for him so he could regularize his status. They are the parents of one child. In an incident that took place in late March, a 32-year-old New Bedford resident who has lived in the United States since he was 2 years old, was detained after returning from a vacation abroad. Rui Murras was arrested on a decade-old drug charge that had been resolved, according to his lawyer. He was brought to the Cumberland County Jail in Portland, Maine. Born in Portugal, Murras has lived nearly his entire life in New Bedford. Supporters say he has been working full-time and sharing a home with his longtime partner. Between March 18 and 23, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted what it called an “enhanced enforcement operation” across Massachusetts, resulting in the detention of 370 people the agency described as “illegal aliens,” including 205 who “had significant criminal convictions or charges.” The Light has confirmed that at least eight of those arrests took place in New Bedford. Among those detained were José Antonio Garcia Garcia, 39, and Miguel Ordoñez Sorocop, 35. According to several teenagers who were in the home at the time, ICE agents entered the house on Viall Street without a warrant on March 21, using a battering ram and wearing military-style fatigues. The agents pointed their weapons at the children’s faces as they were eating breakfast before school. Others detained in New Bedford include three Guatemalan workers from the Minit Man Car Wash on Purchase Street and one worker from Bob’s Tire on Brook Street. These arrests are part of a broader enforcement trend in the city that has raised concerns among local residents and community leaders. MEDIA MATTERS — College news media forced to adapt to protect students afraid of deportation by Tréa Lavery, MassLive: “Student-run news outlets at Boston’s colleges and universities are adjusting some of their usual policies under President Donald Trump’s second administration as international students avoid publicly speaking out for fear of losing their visas. Since the federal government began revoking student visas around the country, college newspapers have received an unprecedented number of requests to remove the names of current or former international students from past articles or to take down opinion pieces the students wrote.” HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH TRANSITIONS — Gov. Maura Healey has appointed Allan Motenko as the executive director of the Massachusetts Office on Disability. — Emma Duprey will be the new director of nursing at Worcester-based Thrive Support & Advocacy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Italo Fini, Matt Vautour, former Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur, Romney alum Charlie Pearce, Chris Wayland and Jacob Stern. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com .   Follow us on X Kelly Garrity @KellyGarrity3   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters Follow us

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