Burlington DA Drops Charges Against ICE Facility Protesters Days Before Trial

Trespassing charges against two activists arrested outside the Burlington ICE field office last September have been dropped by the Middlesex District Attorney's Office, just days before the pair were set to go to trial. Nathan Phillips, 58, of Newton and Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor, 42, of Leominster were arrested on September 12, 2025, after allegedly refusing to leave the facility while attempting to deliver food to detainees held inside.

According to Boston.com, a court document in the case states that the Commonwealth determined that not pursuing a criminal prosecution was in the interest of justice, while also noting the charges were appropriately brought and that prosecutors reserved the right to bring the case again if circumstances change. Officials did not share a more detailed reason for dropping the charges, per the same report. Phillips's attorney, Kylah Clay, did not respond to Boston.com's request for comment, while Lawton-Sticklor represented herself in the case.

But the timing points to a more specific trigger. Clay reported that prosecutors dropped the charges the day after defense counsel submitted a witness and exhibit list intended to expose facility conditions during the trial, as detailed by Head Topics. That witness list reportedly included the building's private owner, Robert Murray, and a former detainee expected to describe unsafe living conditions inside — testimony that would have unfolded just six days before the scheduled trial date.

A Facility Built for Hours, Used for Days

Lawyers involved in the case described the Burlington ICE facility as inhospitable and overcrowded, with some detainees reportedly sleeping on concrete floors, according to Boston.com's reporting. Municipal paper trails show that when the 1000 District Avenue site was approved in 2007, officials stipulated the facility would operate solely for short-term administrative processing rather than overnight detention, per local government reporting relayed by the Burn Resilience Network. Town leaders maintain the building was never permitted or equipped for overnight stays, a central point of friction as the site has instead become a recurring flashpoint for multi-day holding complaints.

Murray, who owns the building housing the field office, leases it to the federal government under a commercial agreement with ICE that extends through December 31, 2028, the Burn Resilience Network reports. He also owns the nearby Cafe Escadrille restaurant, which has drawn related protests of its own.

A Third Arrest From the Same Standoff

Phillips and Lawton-Sticklor were not the only activists arrested that day. A third protester, 33-year-old Eleanor Reid of Hanover, New Hampshire, was also arrested during the same incident after a 90-minute standoff with Burlington police outside the office, according to Patch. Reid's arraignment was continued separately from the other two defendants, the outlet noted. ICE facilities generally do not accept outside food, which was the stated reason the group had gathered at the office in the first place, per Boston.com.

The case is not the first time activists attempting similar care package deliveries at the site have faced legal consequences. A Boston University professor arrested in December 2025 during a comparable attempt resolved her case through pre-trial probation and a stay-away order running through September 2026, according to the Climate Justice Universities Union. Phillips himself carries a long history of civil disobedience; the Boston University professor of Earth and Environment has previously staged extended hunger strikes over a gas compressor station in Weymouth and over university free-speech policies, according to The Daily Free Press.

Congressional Pressure and Local Roadblocks

The dropped charges land amid sustained political pressure on the Burlington facility from multiple directions. In June 2025, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey led the entire Massachusetts congressional delegation in demanding federal answers regarding reports of overcrowding, lack of sanitary supplies, and extended detentions at the office, according to a statement from the Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren. Federal guidelines generally restrict field office holding times to 12 hours absent exceptional circumstances, making the reported multi-day stays a persistent point of contention.

Local officials have tried and failed to get inside the building themselves. In June, the Burlington Select Board held its first formal public update on the facility, revealing that federal authorities had denied municipal requests to inspect the building and that a town court petition seeking access was also rejected. Select Board members noted the lease's 2028 expiration may become the town's next point of leverage, per the same reporting relayed by the Burn Resilience Network.

Transparency fights have also played out at the federal level. The Department of Homeland Security instituted a rule in June 2025 requiring advance notice for congressional oversight visits to ICE field offices, a policy lawmakers argued let ICE temporarily obscure overcrowding before inspections. That rule was temporarily enjoined by a federal judge in December 2025, according to Indivisible Mass.

Weekly Protests Continue Outside the Office

The dropped case is unlikely to slow the demonstrations that have become a fixture outside 1000 District Avenue. Weekly “Bearing Witness” demonstrations, organized by groups including the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action since April 2025, have at times drawn up to 700 participants in a single week, according to the Jewish Journal. The gatherings take place every Wednesday outside the facility, adding to a string of Hoodline coverage tracking arrests, an all-day sit-in and mounting scrutiny of the site over the past year.

For Phillips and Lawton-Sticklor, the outcome means no trial and no conviction, though prosecutors have left the door open to revisit the case if circumstances change. What remains unresolved is whether the underlying conditions inside the Burlington facility that drew them there in the first place will ever face the kind of public scrutiny a trial might have provided.