Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has signed a new bill into law that limits the powers of federal immigration officers, sparking an immediate response from the Department of Homeland Security.
The newly enacted PROTECT Act places heavy restrictions on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), effectively banning federal agents from conducting warrantless civil immigration arrests across a number of state organizations.
The sweeping restrictions cover public schools, daycares, hospitals, health centers, nursing homes, and courthouses throughout Massachusetts, reports CBS News.
Speaking at a bill-signing ceremony at the immigrant-advocacy hub La Colaborativa in Chelsea, MA, on Wednesday, Governor Healey boasted that the legislation represents the “strongest law in the country” designed to stand up to federal authorities.
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Healey explained why she signed the PROTECT Act into law, claiming that federal immigration enforcement has terrorized local immigrant communities, driving down school enrollment, and deterring people from seeking vital medical care.
She further alleged that ICE visibility at state courthouses had frightened victims and witnesses away from testifying, causing criminal cases to be dismissed entirely.
In addition to restricting agent access, the law contains a provision allowing undocumented parents to pre-arrange legal guardianship for their children in the event that they are detained or deported.
The Department of Homeland Security condemned the legislation, accusing Massachusetts lawmakers of actively endangering the public to score political points.
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If an ICE officer is found breaking the newly enacted PROTECT Act, they face exposure to state-level civil lawsuits, formal prosecution threats by state officials, and extensive auditing, but they will not be arrested by local police.
Because of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution and federal immunity doctrines, a local police department does not have the legal authority to physically handcuff and jail a federal agent who is carrying out an immigration enforcement action, even if that action violates state law.
Cops arrest and handcuff people they don’t have the legal authority to all the time. And harass many more with pretextual stops. If cops were actually offended at masked untrained outsider paramilitary fucking up their community they have all kinds of options.