ICE says it issued 198 detainer requests with the Boston Police Department last year. BPD Commissioner Michael Cox said there were only 15.

The bureaucratic tiff comes as immigration enforcement remains at the fore of pubic debate, and as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed mass deportations after he takes office later this month.

The Boston Police said it rejected 15 requests from ICE to detain people for possible deportation. But ICE says the number was far higher than city officials initially reported.

The Boston Police Department acknowledged that federal authorities may have issued a higher number of immigration detainer requests in 2024 than what was reported by the BPD commissioner, citing communication issues stemming from faxed requests.