Great Barrington board adopts updated immigration Trust Policy
Select Board · Meeting of April 27, 2026
Great Barrington adopts updated Trust Policy limiting police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The Select Board voted unanimously to approve Trust Policy 2.0, which requires police to document any immigration-related inquiries, including "the agency, legal authority presented and action taken," and creates a new advisory Community Care Team. Multicultural Bridge staffer Rosa Ramirez said the policy "helps to ensure that local institutions like the police and other public agencies do not collaborate with federal immigration enforcement in ways that create fear," while resident John Breasted called the language "full of abstraction." The board separately voted to order a full review of its own public-comment bylaws rather than rule on a complaint that Chair Steve Bannon, on the board since 2010, improperly cut off a resident's testimony at a Feb. 9 meeting.
The board also approved a liquor license transfer at 490 Main Street and nine other permits.
In the full story:
- The complete report — 1,090 words
Source: the Select Board meeting of April 27, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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