Overview

Plymouth County Correctional Facility (PCCF) is the only remaining county detention facility in Massachusetts holding ICE detainees. It is a central node in New England’s deportation pipeline — detainees processed at the Burlington field office are often held here before being flown out of Hanscom Field in Bedford.

Contract Details

• IGSA contract renewed September 2024, running through 2029
• ICE rents 526 beds at $215/detainee/day
• On-call guards billed at $44.90/hr (overtime $67.35/hr)
• October 2025 alone: daily bed rate generated ~$3.3 million for PCCF
• Average daily population: 414-449 detainees (FY2025)
• As of December 15, 2025: 512 men held

Source: Plymouth County extends ICE contract — GBH; ICE IGSA page; Immigrant detention contract through Trump term — Boston Globe

Threat Level Data

• 87.3% of detainees at PCCF have no criminal convictions (updated FY2025 figure; previously cited as ~85%)
• Only ~8% classified Level 1 (highest threat)
• Pattern accelerated under Biden, continued under Trump — contradicts rhetoric about targeting dangerous criminals
• Context: ICE custody nationwide neared 60,000 people by mid-2025, up ~50% under Trump’s second term

Source: WBUR — Vast majority classified ’no threat’; The Scope — ICE Beds by Threat Level FY2025

Conditions Concerns

Prisoners’ Legal Services of MA has tracked conditions. Complaints include:

• Discrimination and retaliation against detainees
• Punitive use of solitary confinement
• Medical neglect
• Restricted attorney access, mail, and phone access
• Improper strip searches
• Language access failures
• Civil rights complaint filed with MA Attorney General’s office
• Extreme cold repeatedly cited — the facility does not provide sweatshirts free; detainees must buy them from commissary; allegations of “essentially raw and rotten food,” inadequate heating, inaccessible facilities for disabled people, and religious/LGBTQ discrimination (early 2026 advocate accounts)
• Sens. Warren and Markey requested an immediate review of detainee conditions at PCCF, escalating federal scrutiny

Source: Plymouth jail complaints — WBUR; Sen. Markey & Warren — request immediate review of PCCF conditions; World Peace Foundation — New Year, Same Plymouth Detention Center

Pipeline Role

PCCF is the central detention hub in Massachusetts’s enforcement pipeline:

1. ICE arrests at courthouses, streets, police stations across MA
2. Processing at Burlington field office (Middlesex County)
3. Held at Plymouth County jail (526 beds)
4. Transported to Hanscom Field (Bedford, Middlesex County) for charter flights to other detention facilities or deportation

Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office transported 40+ detainees to Hanscom in one week in September 2025 alone.

Why It Matters

This is the only ICE detention contract with a blue state county — the last one remaining after Suffolk County (2019) and Bristol County (2021) ended their contracts. The contract runs through 2029, covering most of a potential second Trump term. At $215/day and 449 average daily population, it generates roughly $35M+/year for Plymouth County — creating powerful economic incentives against termination.