Sam Drysdale and Colin A. Young
State House News Service

The House budget committee advanced an immigrant protection bill Tuesday morning, teeing it up to go before the full chamber Wednesday. 

House Ways and Means Committee members advanced the bill that would put up new guardrails in response to aggressive federal immigration enforcement. The legislation draws a sharper line between state agencies and federal authorities, while expanding legal protections for residents regardless of their immigration status. 

The bill moved forward with support from 25 committee members. There were no votes against the bill, but seven Republican did not cast yes or no votes and two committee members were not recorded on the vote.

At its core, the proposal limits the role of local and state police in civil immigration matters, a policy goal that some in the Legislature have pursued for years. Officers would generally be barred from asking about a person's immigration status, sharing nonpublic information with federal authorities, or assisting in immigration enforcement unless it's directly tied to a criminal investigation or backed by a judicial warrant. 

The bill (H 5305), which advanced as an amendment to H 5293, has been promoted as prohibiting most formal agreements that deputize local officers to carry out federal immigration duties, called 287(g) agreements. However, in practice, it would maintain the only agreement of this kind in the state. 

The Department of Correction is the only state entity with one of these contracts, which allows the department to be in communication with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the status of someone who is about to be released about whether they have a detainer on them, which ICE can then act on. 

The bill text says the department "may maintain the memorandum of agreement under section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act... and provided further, that the department of correction shall apply to the executive office of public safety and security to renew or materially expand a memorandum of agreement under section 287(g)."

Though the department, which Gov. Maura Healey oversees, will be allowed to continue with its agreement, a bill summary released by House Speaker Ron Mariano's office said the bill "prohibits law enforcement agencies and political subdivisions from executing, renewing, or materially expanding a 287(g) memorandum of agreement, allowing only narrow, time-limited exceptions tied to criminal public safety purposes — coupled with oversight and reporting." 

Future agreements would be allowed under a "process that would be an application on the reason why a local law enforcement agency would want to enter into a 287(g) agreement" and "they'd have to petition the Secretary of Public Safety and Security for review and approval of any new 287(g) agreement," House chair of the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security Daniel Cahill at a press conference about the bill last week. House members of the Public Safety Committee backed its version of the PROTECT Act in an 11-0 vote.

On the Department of Correction agreement, Cahill said "the reason we allow" it to remain in place is "if you are in the Department of Corrections possession or control, I should say, it is because you have been convicted of a felony. There is no protections that Massachusetts will afford to those who have been convicted of crimes and face deportation from the federal government. Those folks will continue to be deported if ICE determines it."

"The reason we didn't outright prohibit these agreements is because they were initially created for a purpose and it has been in existence in Massachusetts," Cahill said in an interview with the News Service. "Gov. Deval Patrick signed a 287(g) agreement with President Obama's administration. It has been, in many opinions, with the current administration, used to an extreme. We didn't want to put into law an all-out prohibition when in the future there might be a limited need for a 287(g) agreement. I don't see under current conditions the state wanting to see any new 287(g) agreements in place, but we wanted to leave that door open."

He said the "intent" of the law is to prohibit law enforcement agencies from unilaterally entering new agreements "without properly vetting these at the state level." He also reiterated that the exemption for DOC was to make the distinction between immigrants who are civilly detained and those convicted of criminal activity.

"Our concerns and the concerns of the Black and Latino Caucus, Asian Caucus and a lot of people in the immigrant community is an all-out ban would put people at risk, because it would spill out from DOC into the streets, and they would start picking people up on civil arrests, and that's what we want to prevent. It's an important distinction between criminal convictions and folks who have zero criminal activity and are being rounded up as if they were criminals."

The legislation would also give the governor authority to restrict where immigration enforcement can take place on state property. That includes the ability to limit such activity inside nonpublic areas of state buildings, part of a broader effort to reduce civil rights violations. 

New standards would apply inside jails and detention facilities, where people would receive written notice of their legal rights in their primary language and gain expanded access to confidential communication with attorneys. Facilities would also be required to provide interpreter services, maintain up-to-date records on detainees, and notify lawyers and family contacts of transfers within hours.

Courthouses would receive additional protections under the bill. Civil immigration arrests could not take place unless officers present a valid judicial warrant to a judge, and such arrests would generally be barred from occurring inside courtrooms. Supporters say the change is intended to ensure people can attend court proceedings without fear of being detained for immigration reasons.

The measure also includes new protections for workers and crime victims. Employers would have to notify employees within 48 hours of any federal immigration inspection request. At the same time, victims of crimes, including human trafficking and labor exploitation, would gain a clearer and faster path to obtain certifications needed to apply for certain immigration visas, with safeguards against retaliation tied to immigration status.

If enacted, the bill would roll out in phases, with some provisions taking effect within 90 days and others within six months, alongside new regulations and public guidance from state officials.

Members of the House Committee on Ways and Means received the notification of a poll at 10 a.m. and were given 45 minutes to review the redraft of the 12-page bill and submit their votes. Some of those involved were simultaneously attending a budget hearing in Foxborough related to public safety. 

During that hearing, Rep. Todd Smola of Warren asked Public Safety Secretary Gina Kwon if the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security has a relationship or has communications with ICE. He said it's a question he has asked House leadership as the legislation was under development.

"EOPSS does not have any communication with ICE at any level. Just by nature of what we do in overseeing our agencies and the core responsibilities of the executive office, there wouldn't be a reason for us to communicate directly with ICE," Kwon said Tuesday. "That being said, if I needed to reach out to a federal stakeholder, I wouldn't have any problem doing so."

Smola said he and other lawmakers are concerned that Massachusetts is going ahead with legislation that seeks to protect immigrants from federal law enforcement but the state's public safety apparatus is not in regular contact with federal counterparts.

"I think what we saw in Minnesota ... when things were changed on the federal level, one of the things that stood out with many of us was the fact that when ICE communicated with entities in the state, it changed everything," Smola said. "And that's my concern, and I think the concern of a lot of legislators, as we roll into the PROTECT Act tomorrow. If we're not communicating and having some sort of dialogue with the federal counterpart on issues that are here in this commonwealth, we're doing something wrong."

Kwon said "there should be communication and coordination" at the law enforcement level and that "law enforcement is stronger when there is an open dialogue." She said the Department of Correction has a 287(g) agreement with ICE, so there is coordination and communication there. She said she would think about how she can collaborate more with federal officials.

"You could be a tremendous bridge builder, right, as the secretary for the administration and EOPSS with everything that's going on, and perhaps we could make some progress in that arena," Smola told the secretary.

The Department of Correction is one of several state agencies that are part of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.