Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins insists his decision to sever ties with Immigration and Customs Enforcement had nothing to do with protests, and everything to do whether the people in his jail’s cells are destined to remain in the state.                   

“I was hired to do local, not federal, work. The ICE population is transient — they’re not staying here,” Tompkins said on CommonWealth’s Codcast. “But the ladies we’re going to service, they either live in my county or the Commonwealth. They’re staying here. They have kids. They have families. We want them to go back home in better shape than they arrived.”

For over 16 years, the Suffolk County sheriff’s office had a contract with ICE to place detained immigrants in beds at the South Bay House of Correction. The arrangement has stirred protests ever since President Trump came into office with his strong stance against immigrants in this country illegally. Eighteen Jewish activists were arrested at a rally this summer.

Tompkins announced two weeks ago he was ending his contract with ICE and will use the newly available space to bring in women detainees who other counties were planning to send to the state women’s prison in Framingham.

Tompkins said he feels for the families of immigrants who may have to travel farther to meet with detainees, but he said he is also concerned about women inmates facing substance abuse and mental health issues. His concern arises from personal experience, he said.  “My mother was an alcoholic. My mother suffered from depression. Her brother was a flagrant batterer and beat the heck out of his daughters, son, and wife,” he said. “I see depression every day. I see substance abuse every day.”

Tompkins said he started talking with state officials ever since he heard that “the building was falling down” at MCI-Framingham. His idea is to have some women continue to be housed in Framingham, while diverting others being sent there from Essex, Norfolk, and Plymouth counties to South Bay. MCI-Framingham, he said, was not part of the planning conversations.

The sheriff said he will figure out a way to provide funding for an increase in the female population. “Let’s see what happens with the next appropriation because at some point we’re gonna’ need more money, particularly for those ladies with substance abuse issues, for medication and mental health issues,” he said. 

Tompkins says he has an annual budget of about $116 million a year, of which $110 million is provided by the state and the rest from grants and supplementary appropriations. “We don’t have enough money to do what we need to do,” he said. 

The younger women about to enter the South Bay House of Correction may soon have access to a program similar to the PEACE unit that started for men under age 25 last November. Putting a greater emphasis on rehabilitation, the PEACE (for Positive Energy Always Creates Elevation) unit currently has 25  participants, and one former detainee is attending Dean’s College on a full scholarship. Even though recidivism numbers are not available yet for the program, Tompkins is planning to double the number of participants to 50 at the beginning of 2020.

Tompkins said he would like to launch a similar program for women between the ages of 18 and 24, although he said the program won’t be identical. “Ladies have different needs,” he said, noting that many of the women have children.

SARAH BETANCOURT

BEACON HILL

Some freshman women in the Massachusetts House accuse the chamber’s leaders of silencing dissent, literally, by not recognizing them during a floor debate last week. (Boston Globe)

ICYMI: Gov. Charlie Baker files a sweeping health care bill. (State House News)

Medical marijuana patients, including activist Will Luzier, want to join the vaping industry’s lawsuit against the governor for his temporary ban on electronic cigarette sales following a rash of mysterious deaths around the country. (Salem News) 

A Globe editorial urges the Legislature to pass a bill banning non-medical exemptions to the state’s mandatory vaccination law for children enrolling in schools. 

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

A scramble is on in Boston by property owners looking to have their units reclassified as “executive suites” to comply with new city regulations over short-term rentals like Airbnb. (Boston Herald)

Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell was disappointed to learn that none of the officers working at the Straight Pride Parade were wearing body cameras, and she and Councilor Lydia Edwards are calling for a hearing about the body-camera program. (WBUR) 

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Things went from bad to worse for Mick Mulvaney, as the acting White House chief of staff bumbled his way through a Sunday interview on Fox News trying to explain how he hadn’t meant what he said about President Trump withholding military aid to Ukraine pending a commitment to investigate the Democratic National Committee. (Politico) 

Trump blamed Democrats and the media as he reversed course and canceled plans to hold next year’s G-7 summit at his own Florida resort, but it was actually Republicans weary of defending him on so many fronts who convinced him to abandon the plan. (Washington Post) 

The Atlantic has a textured look at Mitt Romney, the sudden conscience of the national Republican Party, in which the Utah senator and former Massachusetts governor comes off in a way that may surprise Bay Staters: genuine and principled. The main reaction to the article, though, was the frenzied quest to identify the secret Twitter account Romney (aka Pierre Delecto) maintains. (New York Times)

After taking heat for dodging the question in last week’s Democratic presidential debate, Elizabeth Warren says she’ll soon released a detailed plan on how to pay for Medicare-for-All. (Politico) The Download speculated last week that she would soon flesh out an answer to the question. 

ELECTIONS

There is an issue difference, a slight one, between the Massachusetts Senate candidates — on the filibuster. (CommonWealth)

Sen. Ed Markey keeps racking up endorsements — over the weekend they came from Auditor Suzanne Bump, state Sen. Jo Comerford of Northampton, and Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz. (MassLive)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Sal Lupoli, the Chelmsford businessman constructing a 1,200-space parking garage in Lawrence, says he dreams big and his next development pitch will be for three 14-story buildings with a focus on life science companies as tenants. (Eagle-Tribune)

Harvard Square’s iconic newsstand Out of Town News has gone out of business, and the nonprofit Culture House will occupy its former space rent-free. (WGBH) 

Newbury Street has become the fashionable new spot for Boston venture capital firms to locate. (Boston Globe)

EDUCATION

A new school funding formula tops the warrant for the Oct. 29 special town meeting in Yarmouth.The town sued the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District and the town of Dennis in February over the method used to approve a new $117 million middle school. (Cape Cod Times) 

Gordon College, a small evangelical school in Wenham, has received a $75.5 million gift, more than doubling its existing $50 million endowment. (Boston Globe) 

Boston Latin Academy will also see its endowment more than double, as alum Nathan Blecharczyk, a co-founder of Airbnb, plans to donate $1 million to his alma mater. (Boston Globe)

ARTS/CULTURE

When you have a side of art with your coffee, your meal, or whatever, that raises an interesting arts policy question. Check out the first story of this series. (CommonWealth)

1623 Studios, the nonprofit television producer serving Cape Ann, is moving from its offices in an industrial park into downtown Gloucester where there will be more opportunities for interaction with the public. (Gloucester Daily Times) 

The story of that family losing two children to the opioid epidemic will be told in a series of monologues written by playwright Robbi D’Allessandro at a fundraiser in Quincy. (Patriot Ledger) 

TRANSPORTATION

Several state lawmakers make the case for Environmental Justice Corridor train service through Chelsea, Revere, Everett, and Lynn. (CommonWealth)

Service on the Orange Line is being disrupted again this morning as a weekend shutdown was extended after a construction incident on work being done between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center. (CBS)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Jürgen Weiss of the Brattle Group says the region needs a lot more electricity to meet its climate change goals, and solar and offshore wind can meet the challenge. (CommonWealth)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

Two Stoughton brothers have been charged with trafficking heroin, and will be arraigned Monday.. (Brockton Enterprise)