Newton committee holds ICE response docket, demands faster staff guidance and website updates

NEWTON — March 18, 2026 — Newton councillors demand clearer ICE response guidance for residents and city employees. The City Council's committee on Docket 56-26 held an extended session March 18 pressing City COO Josh Morse and City Solicitor Ali Giuliani on the gap between Newton's Welcoming City Ordinance — passed in February 2017 — and Mayor Mark Laredo's recent executive order on one hand, and the absence of written staff training materials or multilingual public-facing guidance on the other. Councillor Brittany Hune Charm, who works at Boston City Hall, asked directly why Newton had not issued a one-to-two page employee guidance document six to seven weeks after the executive order was signed; Morse defended the administration's direct, ongoing conversations with department heads as more effective than static written policies. Police Chief Timothy Cahoon confirmed a body camera pilot program has been negotiated with both officer unions and is pending operating budget funding, but acknowledged significant staffing and redaction-software barriers remain. Councillor Sean Roach called for a standing task force of administration, police, councillors, and school officials, and flagged the ordinance's terrorism exception as potentially overbroad given how the federal government now uses that term. The committee voted unanimously to hold the docket and all six committee members raised hands in favor of scheduling a follow-up session open to public comment.