Overview

Hanscom Field, a public-use airport in Bedford, Massachusetts (Middlesex County), has become a key ICE deportation flight hub for New England. Charter flights carry detainees from Massachusetts — primarily from Plymouth County Correctional Facility — to longer-term detention facilities and deportation staging points across the country.

Flight Activity

• 114+ ICE flights through November 2025 — more than double the previous year
• ICE paused Hanscom use around July 2025, then resumed in September 2025 to support Operation Patriot 2.0
• At least 5 flights per week documented in mid-September 2025
• Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office transported 40+ detainees to Hanscom in one week (Sep 2025)
• Flights use private charter planes; no specific charter company publicly identified

Sources: WBUR — ICE restarts flights at Hanscom; Boston Globe — Hanscom commission says ICE ‘stonewalling’

Government Response

• Governor Healey demanded ICE immediately stop using Massachusetts airports for deportation flights (December 2025)
• Hanscom Field Advisory Commission said ICE was “stonewalling” its questions about flight operations (December 2025)
• Massport stated it cannot legally discriminate against who uses the airport — federal government has right to use public airports
• March 2026: Healey called on the aviation company operating deportation flights at Hanscom to cut ties with ICE

Sources: WBUR — Healey demands ICE stop; Boston.com — Healey calls on aviation company

Pipeline Role

Hanscom is the transportation node in the MA enforcement pipeline:

1. Arrest → Burlington processing → Plymouth County detention → Hanscom Field flights → out-of-state detention/deportation

Other New England airports also used: Portsmouth International (Pease, NH), Leahy Burlington International (VT), Tweed New Haven (CT).

Why It Matters

The Hanscom situation illustrates the legal complexity of the deportation pipeline — the airport authority says it cannot legally refuse federal flights, the governor demands ICE stop, and ICE claims operational necessity. This creates a democratic accountability gap where no single entity can shut down the pipeline. The flight infrastructure enables ICE to arrest people in Massachusetts’s sanctuary-leaning communities and rapidly transfer them to states with weaker protections.