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Mass. won't change RMV policy restricting confidential license plates for ICE, despite federal pressure
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It's Friday. A quick reminder that a big chunk of the Red Line is taking a four-day weekend for signal upgrades. Shuttles are replacing all trains between Broadway and Ashmont through this coming Monday. The Mattapan trolley is also being replaced by shuttles through Saturday due to the work. Click here for more details on how to get around the partial closure or check out the T's obligatory diversion graphic. (Pro tip: the free commuter rail is your friend.)
Now to the news:
Take a number: The Trump administration is threatening to sue Massachusetts over the Registry of Motor Vehicles' policy against issuing confidential license plates to ICE without any strings attached. But as WBUR's Simón Rios reports, Gov. Maura Healey's office says the state will not change its policy. "Massachusetts is not going to allow state resources to be used to help ICE operate in secret while they are violating people’s rights and making us all less safe," Healey press secretary Jacqueline Manning said in a statement.
- The backstory: Confidential plates conceal the identity of the owner or lessee of a vehicle, meaning they can't be looked up in databases. In a letter to Healey this week, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Brett Shumate said the RMV is only issuing confidential plates for ICE vehicles after certifying they will only be used in criminal investigations. (As Simón reported last month, nearly half of the 7,000-plus immigrants arrested in Massachusetts since President Trump took office last year had no pending criminal charges or convictions; they were marked only for being in the country without legal status, which is a civil infraction.)
- The DOJ's view: Shumate said the policy is discriminatory against ICE, since the RMV doesn't require the same certification from other federal, state and local agencies. He also called it "deeply dangerous," arguing it could allow ICE officers to be "tracked to their home" or help suspects avoid arrest.
- The local view: Healey's office said it's just applying the RMV's policy of only issuing the plates to agencies with a "legitimate" need related to criminal investigations. "We all know that’s not what ICE is doing," Manning said. "This is an agency that can’t and won’t even tell us who they are arresting and why. We are not going to enable their tactics.” Healey's office also downplayed the risk of individual agents getting doxxed, since non-confidential plates only show the agency that owns the vehicle in databases.
- What's next: Shumate gave Healey a May 22 deadline to rescind the policy, or else he said the Trump administration "intends to seek judicial relief."
In court: Tyler Brown, the man accused in Monday’s Memorial Drive shooting rampage, pleaded not guilty to an array of felony charges via Zoom from a hospital bed yesterday. As WBUR's Eve Zuckoff reports, Brown's next court date is a dangerousness hearing next Thursday. A judge ordered Brown to remain in custody (either in the hospital or in jail) until then.
- Meanwhile, prosecutors said the two men Brown allegedly shot are recovering. Assistant District Attorney Nicole Allain said one was hit in the back of the head, but has since been treated and released from the hospital. The other was shot about four times in the leg and is still in the hospital, Allain said.
Claims department: The Healey administration is updating Massachusetts rules to bar insurance companies from requiring sign-off before certain medical procedures and treatments. As WBUR's Priyanka Dayal McCluskey reports, these so-called prior authorizations are intended to control costs, but can also delay care. The new changes are intended to cut down on waits for certain important care.
- Which ones? The new rules apply to a wide range of healthcare services — including urgent care, primary care, maternity care and preventive care, as well as imaging tests, physical therapy and medications for patients with certain chronic conditions, like cancer, diabetes and asthma. (Click here for a specific list of examples.) The new rules also require insurance companies to respond to urgent requests within 24 hours.
Ferry on: Good news for fans of Civil War history and ghost stories — ferry service to Boston Harbor's Georges Island resumes today for the first time in almost a year. Public access to the island was shut off last summer due to emergency repairs to a water line to the mainland.
- However, ferry service to Spectacle Island will be delayed this year due to its own repairs. The island is still open to boaters and kayakers.
P.S.— Do you know why the MBTA is pushing to update dozens of Green Line stops over the next five years? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of this week's stories.
