City councilor Ed Flynn is calling for a ICE and Boston Police officials to meet at a hearing to clear up discrepancies in the number of immigration detainers in 2024.

“The Boston Herald reported (Thursday) that there were 198 immigration detainer requests by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last year, far higher than the 15 detainer requests communicated by the Boston Police Department in a letter to the City Clerk,” Councilor Ed Flynn wrote in a letter to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox. “I have concerns and questions about the discrepancy of this data.”

Boston Police reported that they had received and rejected 15 civil immigration detainer requests from ICE in 2024 to the City Clerk, while ICE officials said they had requested the custody transfer of 198 individuals after they were arrested by BPD during the year, as reported by the Herald.

The order requests a “hearing to discuss the 2024 detainer requests in the City of Boston.” BPD representatives are “invited to attend,” the order states.

In the letter to Cox, Flynn notes the criminal charges levied against the people ICE requested custody over included armed robbery, assault to murder, fentanyl, cocaine and heroin distribution, and other crimes.

“It is critical that the Boston Police Department maintains a positive and respectful working relationship with federal law enforcement partners,” Flynn argued in the letter. “When someone commits a crime, regardless of immigration status, we can’t stand in the way of justice for a victim or respect for the rule of law and society.”

Boston Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the hearing order Sunday.

The department, in a response to the Herald late last week, acknowledged the discrepancy in numbers and attributed the issue to fax communications sent to individual stations, and other factors.

“In January 2023, BPD asked that ICE stop sending detainer requests solely via fax to district stations, and also send them to a central email address,” said BPD spokesperson Mariellen Burns in a statement. “To date, ICE has not used the email address. BPD will continue to work with local authorities to establish a better means of communication regarding civil detainer requests to comply with annual reporting requirements.”

Cox previously wrote in a letter to the City Clerk regarding the 15 detainer requests that BPD “remains committed to complying with the Boston Trust Act,” a 2014 city law which prevents local officers from cooperating with federal authorities in detaining immigrants on civil warrants.

“Boston’s immigrant communities should feel safe in reporting crime and quality of life issues to the department and in proactively engaging with all members of the Boston Police Department,” Cox wrote at the time.

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Todd Lyons, ICE assistant director of field operations, said Sunday he has not spoken with Cox or any representative of BPD leadership and stated the department is “stuck with the narrative set by city officials that ICE is bad.”

“I hope BPD leadership talks to the local ERO Boston leaders to learn how ICE can be a viable law enforcement partner to combat crime in the city,” Lyons said in a statement to the Herald.

The hearing order is set to be filed with the City Council on Jan. 15.