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Massachusetts House overwhelming passes sweeping reform bill aimed at bolstering protections for immigrants
The House on Wednesday passed a sweeping reform bill (H 5305Track) aimed at bolstering protections for immigrants.
The 134-21 vote along mostly party lines to pass the PROTECT Act came in response to heightened federal civil and criminal immigration enforcements actions that have stoked fears across the country.
The bill bans civil immigration arrests in courthouses unless an arresting officer has proper documentation from a judge, justice or magistrate showing the person they are seeking to arrest is the subject of a warrant or order authorizing the arrest. It also bars law enforcement officials from asking about the immigration status of potential detainees, witnesses and victims. Employers must also give workers 48 hours notice after ICE alerts them to a planned inspection of I-9 employment eligibility verification forms. The bill maintains the state’s only 287(g) agreement between the Department of Correction and ICE and creates a narrow pathway for other law enforcement agencies to execute similar contracts that deputize local officers to carry out federal immigration duties. The bill also gives the governor authority to further restrict where immigration enforcement actions can take place on state property.
“Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, ICE and Border Patrol agents have continued to harass and disappear innocent Americans with total impunity – a reckless approach that has led to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and to children being separated from their families. Those actions have immigrants in Massachusetts living in fear as they go to work or bring their children to school, and they jeopardize the trust that local law enforcement has worked hard to build,” House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy) said in a statement after the early evening vote.
There was little disagreement during public floor deliberations about the bill, which representatives say has been in the works since 2017.
Twelve of the 16 amendments to the bill were withdrawn or rejected.
The House plans to hold an informal session Thursday. – Katie Castellani