The Hanscom Field Advisory Commission unanimously voted Aug. 11 to ask Massport to install around-the-clock webcams where ICE agents interact with detainees, a move Concord activists say could help lawyers find clients and families track loved ones being flown out of state.

The commission also approved a second motion asking Massport to treat all airfield observers in public areas equally, without restrictions on duration or use of recording equipment — the more precise wording of what was broadly described as a request to allow and encourage civilian observers on airport property. Both votes were unanimous, according to The Bedford Citizen. The commission's letter asks Massport to respond by its next meeting, Sept. 15, 2026 — contrary to this article's original framing, a response deadline and the next meeting date have in fact been set.

HFAC member Christopher Eliot first proposed the twin motions at the commission's July 21 meeting. "If Massport cares about this — I think — horribly inhumane and illegal operation, they should be cooperating with peaceful observers," Eliot said at that meeting, as reported by The Concord Bridge.

Terri Ackerman, Concord's representative on HFAC, has attended weekly protests at the airfield. Concord resident and protest organizer Marsha Turin told The Concord Bridge, in comments closely paraphrased here, that ICE will not be transparent voluntarily and the community must force accountability; her direct quote was "ICE isn't going to be transparent on its own. We need to force them."

114 flights, 2,221 detainees

De-ICE Hanscom spokesperson Todd Palmer presented data to the commission showing the group had tracked 114 ICE flights carrying an estimated 2,221 detainees through Hanscom since October. ICE resumed shuttling detainees through the airfield in September 2025 after a brief pause in July 2025.

Activists told The Concord Bridge that current photos of detainees are blurry and spotters sometimes cannot count how many people board a given plane. Eliot told The Concord Bridge that seeing faces is sometimes "the only way" lawyers and families learn a relative was transferred to another state.

A seizure, no medication, 12 hours

A federal court ruling laid bare what can happen during those transfers. Laura Maria Guevara Peruano, an Ecuadorian woman with epilepsy, was flown through Hanscom in January 2026. She suffered a severe seizure at ICE's Burlington office before her flight, yet ICE provided no medication, food or bathroom access during her 12-hour transfer — details federal Judge Leo Sorokin wrote in an order affirming a previous decision to release her while her immigration case played out, rather than a new order requiring her release, as this article originally stated.

Massport's response

Massport spokesperson Jennifer Mehigan said the agency would consider the merits of any community request for webcams or observer access. ICE's Boston office did not respond to questions about recent Hanscom activities, according to The Concord Bridge.

Massport leaders have previously said they cannot stop ICE from using Hanscom Field, which sits partly in Lexington. Critics, including HFAC members, disagree and call the agency complicit.

Advocates point to King County International Airport near Seattle as a model. That facility already operates publicly accessible 24/7 webcams covering ICE flight operations and publishes a log of every immigration enforcement flight, confirmed directly on the airport's own website. King County also employs a person to monitor flights and count passengers on immigration enforcement flights, though the specific Seattle Times account of that hire could not be independently re-accessed for this story.

At a protest near the Hanscom entrance on July 31, an 8-year-old boy held a sign reading "You stole my best friend," confirmed by The Concord Bridge's coverage of that demonstration. A separate claim that De-ICE Hanscom launched a postcard campaign that same day urging Massport to install the cameras could not be independently confirmed for this story; it did not appear in the cited Concord Bridge article or on the coalition's own website and action pages.