Two Massachusetts teachers have spent the past week marching the length of Cape Cod to Plymouth to protest conditions for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility.
“It’s something we’ve been passionate about for a while,” said Connor May, 33. He and Chris Tansey, 35, walked from Boston to Stockbridge in 2019 to protest the separation of immigrant families at the border.
This time, May said, the two friends were motivated by the treatment of immigrants by ICE nationwide, but also by a 2024 report alleging mistreatment of ICE detainees at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, including inadequate food and medical care and limited access to legal counsel and loved ones. The report is based mostly on interviews with detainees.
The report, researched and written by Boston University School of Law’s Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program and Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, is strongly disputed by Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald.
“We read the report and take exception to their claims,” a spokesperson for McDonald said in an email. “We utilize a dietician to ensure nutritious and balanced 2900-calorie meals with both medical and religious accommodation considerations. There are three meals a day (2 hot, 1 cold).”
“Medical conditions and medications are determined the day they arrive with the medical staff,” the spokesperson continued. “Our medical staff will triage patients with immediate needs. Medications are distributed directly to the men twice a day. The nurse makes a sick call every morning.”
“Attorneys have 24-hour in-person access to their clients,” the spokesperson continued. “People in custody can make calls from their tablets or the phones in their housing units to call their attorneys. Pro Bono Attorneys from the Pair Project, BU Law Students, and Boston College Legal Services regularly meet with people who need legal advice and service.”
The critical report against the facility, based on 60 interviews with detainees in 2024, includes allegations of “insufficient and/or inedible food, excessively cold temperatures in their cells, lack of access to medical care, lack of language access, inability to communicate with loved ones, and lack of access to legal resources. They also spoke to a pervasive culture of verbal abuse, racism, intimidation, and retaliation.”
The housing units are climate-controlled with air conditioning, McDonald’s spokesperson said, pointing to an inspection report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health that found temperatures in the facility on Jan. 13, 2025 ranging from 68 to 75 degrees. The facility also has a multi-lingual staff and uses other interpretation tools to help those who do not speak English, the spokesperson said.
The county correctional facility is the only jail in Massachusetts to house ICE civil immigration detainees. Under a contract with ICE, as of Thursday, it housed 448 men as they awaited possible deportation, according to the spokesperson.
Tansey, who lives in Harwich, teaches English language arts at a Cape Cod middle high school and May, who lives in Lincoln, teaches ethics and scripture at Boston College High School.
The men say they are motivated to protest by their Christian faith.
They left Provincetown Sunday with about 20 people sending them off. They hope to make it to the Plymouth County Correctional Facility around midday on Friday. They are marching from Provincetown to Plymouth, they said, because the Pilgrims – celebrated immigrants – first landed in Provincetown before settling in Plymouth.
They have been joined by others along the way, including 10 or 15 people on Monday and Tuesday mornings. They have also been accompanied by Craig Swallow, who is running against Congressman Bill Keating for the Democratic nomination in the 9th Congressional District, which includes Plymouth.
The reactions to their protest along the way have been mixed.
They were asked to leave a Barnstable coffee shop Wednesday when the owner was offended by their signs, which read “Walking 80 miles for immigrants detained and abused in Plymouth” and “P’town to Plymouth solidarity with immigrants.”
However, the owner of a West Barnstable store offered to stay open late for them and make them sandwiches.
The men are also raising funds for the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network, a nonprofit supporting immigrants and asylum seekers.
As of Thursday, they had raised $10,000, Tansey said.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org