On May 7, I was proud to vote ‘YES’ on An Act Promoting Rule of Law, Oversight, Trust and Equal Constitutional Treatment, also called the PROTECT Act.
I summarized the bill and the debate in a short video here while there were still cheers echoing in the State House hallways.
This bill safeguards the Constitutional rights of all residents, strengthens trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement, and ensures that locations like schools, hospitals, and places of worship remain safe and accessible for everyone.
The Senate’s bill would:
- Ensure sensitive locations remain places of trust where all residents have the safety they deserve;
- Prohibit state and local law enforcement from engaging in civil immigration enforcement;
- Ban government entities from entering into new 287(g) agreements;
- Protect residents from violations of their Constitutional rights by federal law enforcement; and
- Prohibit state and local law enforcement from unnecessarily questioning a person about their immigration or citizenship status or stopping a person because of their citizenship or immigration status.
This bill reflects deep collaboration and dialogue with immigrant rights advocates, community members, law enforcement, and many partners across the Commonwealth — powered by the leadership and vision of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and builds on legislation and executive orders previously filed by Governor Maura Healey.
I have been proud to support this effort alongside my colleagues on the Senate Committee on Steering and Policy, on which I serve as Vice Chair. I am especially grateful to Senator Cindy Friedman and Senator Pavel Payano for their leadership and courage in advancing this work.
Thank you as well to our Chief of Staff Jared Freedman who has dedicated a great deal of his time over many months to working with committee staff, constituents and experts on the due diligence necessary to develop this bill.
Finally, thank you to all those who reached out to me with support for the PROTECT Act, and other immigrant rights legislation currently pending.
The House and Senate will now form a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate-passed versions of the bill before sending it to the Governor for her signature.
Learn more about this legislation here: https://bit.ly/4eUuErC.
