Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald was ordered this week to turn over to The American Civil Liberties Union records detailing medical treatment of hundreds of federal immigration detainees at the jail.
The ruling by Suffolk County Superior Court Judge James Budreau rejected McDonald’s argument the public records should be withheld because his ongoing contract with the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement prohibits their release.
“The state maintains its right to reasonably police and ensure the health and safety of its population,” Judge Budreau said in his 8-page ruling. “And such a right is not usurped by the federal regulation at issue here.”
In a statement to the Independent on Wednesday, McDonald said he intends to comply with the order without filing an appeal.
“As the judge acknowledged, this is a novel case, and we appreciate the court’s guidance,” he said in an emailed statement. “We will comply with the order.”
The Plymouth County Correctional Facility is the only jail in Massachusetts to house ICE civil immigration detainees. Under a contract with ICE, as of Wednesday, it housed 479 men as they await possible deportation, according to a spokesperson for Sheriff McDonald.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a records request in December to get the detainees’ health care information after concerns arose nationwide about the quality of health care given to ICE detainees.
“We’re very gratified that the court agreed that the Sheriff’s department must comply with our state’s public records law, and that it cannot exempt itself from its transparency obligation simply by making agreements with ICE,” ACLU of Massachusetts Dan McFadden said in an interview with the Independent.
Attorneys for the Sheriff and the ACLU presented oral arguments before Budreau July 7.
McDonald’s attorneys argued a federal contract prohibiting release of the records pre-empts Massachusetts’s public records law requiring their release.
They also said the contract prohibits the release of identifying information about detainees, but Budreau found most of the records requested by the ACLU do not have information about individual detainees, and records that do can easily be redacted.
The Sheriff has a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hold ICE detainees. Under the contract, the Sheriff is required to provide medical care.
More than 50 people have died in ICE custody around the country since January 2025, according to a report from Physicians for Social Responsibility. An investigation by the staff of U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., found at least 85 instances of medical neglect in immigration detention facilities between January and August 2025.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org