Case: United States v. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

1:26-cv-12401 | U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Filed Date: May 27, 2026

Clearinghouse coding in progress

Case Summary

[This summary is temporary while we research the case]. The United States of America filed this complaint on May 27, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and several state officials in their official capacities, including Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, Attorney General, Interim Secretary of Transportation, and Registrar of Motor Vehicles. The complaint alleged that Massachusetts had long operated a confidential license plate program available to numerous law enforcement agencies, including federal agencies such as the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, CBP, ICE. However, since President Trump took office in 2025, Massachusetts has changed its policy and began refusing to issue confidential plates exclusively to ICE and CBP. Governor Healey's office justified the change by asserting that ICE is not engaged in "legitimate criminal law enforcement work," though the United States contended this rationale was pretextual, noting that Massachusetts's own application forms and internal policies drew no civil-versus-criminal distinction for other agencies. The complaint further alleged that this policy endangered federal officers and compromises undercover operations and immigration enforcement. The United States asserted two counts under the Supremacy Clause: unlawful discrimination against the Federal Government and unlawful regulation of federal immigration enforcement operations. The United States sought declaratory relief, a permanent injunction, and costs.

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Summary Authors

(6/7/2026)

People

For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73400637/parties/united-states-v-the-commonwealth-of-massachusetts/

Attorney for Plaintiff

Faso, Alessandra (Massachusetts)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Faso, Alessandra (Massachusetts)

Attorney Contact Information via CourtListener

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

	Document
1 1:26-cv-12401	Complaint	May 27, 2026	May 27, 2026

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Docket

See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73400637/united-states-v-the-commonwealth-of-massachusetts/

Last updated June 8, 2026, 3:07 a.m.

ECF Number	Description	Date	Link Date / Link
1	COMPLAINT against The United States of America, (Fee Status: US Government), filed by The United States of America,. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C, # 4 Civil Cover Sheet, # 5 Category Form)(Faso, Alessandra) (Entered: 05/27/2026) 1 Exhibit A View on RECAP 2 Exhibit B View on RECAP 3 Exhibit C View on RECAP 4 Civil Cover Sheet View on RECAP 5 Category Form View on RECAP	May 27, 2026	May 27, 2026 Clearinghouse
2	NOTICE of Case Assignment. Magistrate Judge Jessica D. Hedges assigned to case. Plaintiff's counsel, or defendant's counsel if this case was initiated by the filing of a Notice of Removal, are required to submit a form indicating whether the parties consent to proceed before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. PROMPT SUBMISSION OF THE COMPLETED FORM IS MANDATORY. The parties are directed to the Notice and Procedures regarding Consent to Proceed before the Magistrate Judge which can be downloaded here. These documents will be mailed to counsel not receiving notice electronically. Pursuant to General Order 26-01, until the Court receives for filing a consent to the Magistrate Judge's jurisdiction, or until a case is reassigned to a District Judge, the initial assignment of a civil case to the Magistrate Judge is a referral to the Magistrate Judge under 28 USC 636(b) for decision on all pretrial non-dispositive matters and for Report and Recommendation on dispositive matters. (MBM) (Entered: 05/28/2026)	May 28, 2026	May 28, 2026
3	Summons Issued as to Andrea Campbell, Phillip Eng, Maura Healey, Colleen Ogilvie, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Counsel receiving this notice electronically should download this summons, complete one for each defendant and serve it in accordance with Fed.R.Civ.P. 4 and LR 4.1. Summons will be mailed to plaintiff(s) not receiving notice electronically for completion of service. (EZG) (Entered: 05/28/2026)	May 28, 2026	May 28, 2026
	Notice of Case Assignment to a Magistrate Judge	May 28, 2026	May 28, 2026
4	MOTION of Brandon Michael Hayes for Leave to File Brief as Amicus Curiae in Support of Declaratory and Injunctive Relief, Federal Supremacy, Neutral Administration, and Operational Record Integrity. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Brief, # 2 Text of Proposed Order) (EZG) (Entered: 06/05/2026) 1 Text of Proposed Brief View on PACER 2 Text of Proposed Order View on PACER	June 3, 2026	June 3, 2026 RECAP

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Case Details

State / Territory:

Massachusetts

Case Type(s):

Public Benefits/Government Services

Immigration and/or the Border

Special Collection(s):

Trump Administration 2.0: Litigation and Investigations By the Government

Immigration Enforcement

Key Dates

Filing Date: May 27, 2026

Case Details

Other Dockets:

District of Massachusetts 1:26-cv-12401

Recommended Citation

Case Summary of United States v. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/48198/ (last updated 6/7/2026).