Healey signs sweeping law to restrict ICE

Local News

“ICE needs to be stopped, here in Massachusetts and around this country. Just stopped in its tracks,” Gov. Maura Healey said as she signed the PROTECT Act.

Gov. Maura Healey signed major legislation Wednesday meant to rein in the actions of ICE agents working to carry out the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda. The new law restricts the actions of ICE agents in locations like courthouses, hospitals, and schools while providing new protections for parents facing deportation. 

The signing comes about six months after Healey first proposed the legislation. Since then, federal authorities have continued to detain people at record levels, leading to more clashes with protesters around the country. Many Democrats and immigrant activists claim the Trump administration is routinely breaking the law to meet ambitious deportation goals. 

At times, these tactics have turned deadly. The killing of a Colombian man in Maine last month sparked renewed outrage and local protests, as well as increased scrutiny of the people being employed by ICE. 

In recent weeks, ICE has ramped up activity at airports, arresting foreign citizens with expired U.S. visas, The New York Times reported. 

Healey was joined by lawmakers, community leaders, immigrant advocates, and public safety officials Wednesday morning at La Colaborativa in Chelsea as she signed the legislation. 

“ICE is so wrong in what it’s doing, and ICE needs to be stopped, here in Massachusetts and around this country. Just stopped in its tracks. ICE is hurting people, ICE is hurting our communities, ICE is hurting our economy, ICE is hurting our country,” Healey said. 

The law, known as the Protect Act, specifically prohibits warrantless immigration arrests in schools, child care centers, health care facilities, courthouses, community health centers, and nursing homes. It also lets parents “pre-arrange guardianship” for their children should they be deported. 

When she initially filed the legislation, Healey signed an executive order barring state agencies from entering into agreements that allow the federal government to deputize local authorities for the purposes of immigration enforcement. In addition, the order limited civil immigration enforcement in nonpublic areas of state buildings. The Protect Act codifies the executive order. 

“I want to be clear: the law I’m signing today is a public safety law,” Healey said. “I don’t know how anyone could look at what we see on TV and read in the news and hear from our neighbors… and not say ‘ICE is making us less safe.’”

This year, Healey has issued statewide guidance for how schools, health care facilities, and places of worship should prepare for interactions with ICE agents. The governor teamed up with Attorney General Andrea Campbell to create a portal for reporting any misconduct on the part of ICE.  

The Protect Act expands legal protections and due process rights for immigrants, Healey’s office said. It lays out a new state civil rights claim that residents can use if they believe a government official, including an ICE agent, has violated their constitutional rights. 

“Massachusetts has sent a powerful message to the Trump administration: We will not stand idly by while ICE agents tear apart families and shatter our communities,” Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement. 

Lawmakers attached an emergency preamble to the bill, meaning that it will go into effect immediately. 

The singing comes as ICE explores the possibility of leasing 249 parking spots in downtown Boston, The Boston Globe reported. 

“We absolutely cannot allow ICE to have 250 parking spots in downtown Boston while they are engaging in these illegal tactics. We cannot enable them to ramp up even further in Massachusetts,” Healey said in a statement responding to the report. 

Gladys Vega, president and chief executive of La Colaborativa, praised the work of all the various groups who came together to bring the legislation to Healey’s desk. 

“We’re literally standing on the right side of [the] law. We’re standing as a community, stronger than ever. Enough is enough,” she said. 

“The hate is going to come, and it’s OK,” Vega added. “Before, they were coming in and we didn’t have anything to hit them with. Now, we have the law. Now, we have protection.”