BOSTON (WHDH) - Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey Wednesday signed the PROTECT Act, legislation that provides the strongest protections in the country against “…the dangerous and illegal tactics of President Donald Trump and ICE.”
Healey said the bill keeps ICE out of courthouses, schools, child care centers, and hospitals and health care facilities, provides stronger protections for parents in case they are detained or deported, and allows civil rights claims to be made against government officials, including ICE agents.
In a statement, Healey wrote, “Today, Massachusetts is standing up for what’s right and taking action to keep our people and our communities safe. The PROTECT Act is the strongest law in the country to protect people from ICE, because no one should be afraid to send their child to school, seek medical care or fear reporting a crime or appearing in court. It makes us all less safe. So we are getting ICE out of our courthouses, schools and hospitals. This bill is a testament to the hard work and advocacy of so many people across our state. We’re going to keep working together to make Massachusetts and this country the place we all want it to be.”
The PROTECT Act also prohibits “warrantless immigrant arrests” at courthouses, schools, child care centers, and health care facilities, including hospitals, community health centers, and nursing homes. It allows parents to pre-arrange guardianship for their children in case they are detained or deported.
Healey said children had not been going to school and parents were not going to see doctors or going to court because of their fear of ICE agents.
“When a family can be torn apart for how they look, no one’s papers makes them safe,” said Massachusetts State Senator Pavel Payano. “I have seen what this fear does to a community. A grandmother who stops filing her prescriptions, a mother who walks her child to the school gate and cannot make herself let go, a father who works his whole shift with one eye on the door.”
The Trump Administration says states that will not cooperate with ICE are keeping federal agents from taking dangerous criminals off the streets, but Massachusetts lawmakers say ICE’s tactics make people less safe.
“Our courthouses are for justice, our schools are for learning, our police are for public safety. None of them will be instruments of a racially and politically motivated deportation campaign that makes us less safe,” said Massachusetts Representative Andy Vargas.
“The PROTECT Act makes clear that schools, hospitals, courts are safe places where people can do what they need to do without fear,” said Massachusetts State Senator Will Brownsberger.
The Department of Homeland Security opposes the bill, writing in a statement, “Sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety.”
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