Since the network went live, 200 people have joined and counting, he said.

“If we hear something we try and get an address or a name of a person who’s been impacted,” said Ben Echevarria, executive director of The Welcome Project. “It could be the wife of a man who’s been picked up, so that way we’ll literally go and see if they need assistance.”

At the end of March, the Welcome Project, a immigrant advocacy group in Somerville, announced the launch of its Rapid Response Network The network operates via text message, alerting subscribers when there are confirmed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids happening anywhere in Somerville.


No confirmed ICE raids have been reported during that time. Project organizers have mainly used the system to dispel rumors of ICE activity in the city.

Similar networks exist in cities like Los Angeles and San Diego.

But once the Somerville network went live, staff and volunteers said they started receiving harassing messages. They’ve spoken to local law enforcement about officers keeping an eye on their staff.

“They’re calling, they’re emailing,” Echevarria said of anti-immigration groups. “One group’s website in particular got a picture of one of my staff members and posted it and posted my personal cellphone number.”

“I expected some harassment. I didn’t expect the level that it’s been,” he said. They’ve received more than 200 calls and texts. “Unfortunately, this is what the dialogue around immigration looks like now a days, just threats and fear.”

Echevarria said the network isn’t meant to interfere with ICE raids. Rather, it’s a way for community members, local nonprofits, and others to assist immigrant families in the aftermath of a raid with legal help, food, social services, counseling, and interpreters. Volunteer administrators monitor tips that come in via text. Once verified, that team sends a message to the entire network and a few advocates will go to the home or business. If ICE is still there, Welcome Project participants want people to observe and tape treatment of immigrants by officials.


Local ICE officials say this kind of network may hinder their efforts.

John Mohan, an ICE spokesman, provided this statement about the network via email: “Using local community organizations to help individuals evade federal immigration law, many of whom may be facing or already convicted of serious criminal charges, does not benefit, but rather endangers communities, making them less safe and putting them at greater risk.”

Somerville has been a sanctuary city since 1987, but that does not mean undocumented immigrants are safe, said Matt McLaughlin, the city’s Ward 1 Alderman.

The term “sanctuary city” is not an official designation. It indicates that local law enforcement does not cooperate with federal immigration authorities to arrest, detain, or deport undocumented immigrants, absent violent crime.

McLaughlin’s region is home to one of Somerville’s most diverse populations.

“I’m happy to hear it launched,” McLaughlin said about the rapid response network. “I think it gives information, which is first and foremost what we’ve lacked. These things happen in a Gestapo fashion. People disappear and you never hear from them again.”

Katie Gradowski, who runs a nonprofit called Parts and Crafts, is a subscriber. She said the network is only as strong as the number of people who participate.


“I’m an educator in Somerville,” Gradowski said. “And raids are disruptive to the community, they’re disruptive to employers, and they’re disruptive to families. If a raid happens, it doesn’t just impact the targets, it also impacts everyone around it.”

Ben Echevarria, executive director of The Welcome Project, shows a sample text message that could be sent to the network. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

Cristela Guerra can be reached at cristela.guerra@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristelaGuerra.