Mass. Senate passes immigrant protections

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate passed a sweeping bill to protect immigrants statewide after an hours-long session Thursday that continued into the evening.

The PROTECT Act passed the Senate to raucous applause in a 37 to 3 vote largely along party lines around 6:40 p.m. 

Advocates called the bill, which goes further than a version passed by the House in March, a major victory.

“We are very happy with the Senate version as it is,” said Maroni Minter, political director for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), which has advocated for the legislation since January. “We would be very happy if that’s what gets across the finish line.”

Included in the Senate version are provisions that would seek to prohibit federal agents from performing civil immigration arrests in or around courthouse grounds. The bill also would enable people to sue in state court if federal agents violate their civil rights.

The House and Senate will now negotiate about the bills’ differences in a conference committee.

Senate Democrats framed the bill as a response to what they called the authoritarian tendencies and civil rights abuses of the Trump administration.

“Today, we use the power of the Legislature to protect the immigrants of our state,” Senate President Karen Spilka said at a press conference before the vote. “These are real protections against Donald Trump and ICE agents abusing their powers.”

More than 7,000 people have been arrested in immigration enforcement operations in Massachusetts in the first 15 months since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Only about half of those arrested had criminal convictions or charges against them, according to a WBUR analysis of data compiled by the Deportation Data Project.

In that time, The Light has confirmed that federal agents took 75 people with ties to the New Bedford area into custody as part of immigration enforcement actions. The majority of those had no major criminal convictions in Massachusetts courts at the time of their arrest, according to record checks by The Light.

Most recently, on April 23, ICE agents arrested two men on the streets of New Bedford, including one, Gregorio Castro Coc, on his way to trial at New Bedford District Court. A third, Roberto Osório González, the owner of Quichelenses Market, was detained at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Rhode Island the same day. 

“We believe today’s legislative approach strengthens the tools we have as a state to protect our residents against the abuses of the Department of Homeland Security,” said Sen. Cindy Friedman, D-Arlington.

During the debate, Sen. Vanna Howard, D-Lowell, the first Cambodian-American state senator in the U.S., cited her experience as a survivor of the Cambodian genocide as motivating her support.

“As a survivor of genocide, the trauma is being reignited by what we are witnessing today,” Howard said on the floor. “This country that gave me refuge is beginning to resemble the one I fled.

“This commonwealth is holding a candle to light the way forward,” she continued. “The PROTECT Act is that light.”

Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, and Sen. Michael Rodrigues, D-Westport, voted for the bill.

In a written statement to The Light, Montigny said the bill balances deporting “dangerous criminals” with ensuring due process for “law-abiding individuals whose only violation is seeking a better future for themselves and their families.” 

Both the Senate and House bills contain a provision to help immigrant victims of serious crimes who cooperate with law enforcement. The provision makes it easier for them to obtain documents to apply for a federal visa program’s protections.

On the Senate floor, Montigny said that provision will help victims of human trafficking. 

“No one should ever be afraid to report violent crime to police, and our communities are much safer when they feel empowered to do so,” Montigny said.

What’s in the PROTECT Act

The Senate bill contains several major additions to the House legislation. Minter, of MIRA, praised the policies spelling out how clinics, schools, day care facilities, and places of worship should react to immigration actions and protect their clientele. He said that would help assuage the concerns of many immigrants who fear attending medical appointments and going to work.

“Some of these provisions, advocates have been working [toward] for a long time,” he said. “We’re really, really happy.” 

Both versions of the bill limit local law enforcements’ cooperation with federal immigration agents and create protections for immigrants in and around courthouses. 

The Senate and House legislation both propose to regulate how local law enforcement interacts with federal immigration agents.

Both bills prohibit state and local law enforcement agencies from entering future 287(g) agreements with ICE, which allow local law enforcement to perform some duties of federal immigration officers. The Senate version removes an exception that allows agencies to collaborate with federal enforcement agents on serious criminal cases. 

The only active 287(g) agreement in Massachusetts is with the Department of Correction, which both versions would allow to continue. Under the Senate proposal, any reimbursement the correction department receives from such an agreement would be redirected to the Office for Refugees and Immigrants for disbursement as funding for immigrant legal services.

The Senate bill removed the House’s proposed reforms to due process and conditions in immigration detention facilities. 

The Senate version also restricts federal civil immigration arrests in child care facilities, public schools, health care facilities and places of worship. It would also allow parents to pre-arrange guardianship for their children. 

The Senate’s legislation restricts the introduction of National Guard troops from out of state. It allows the attorney general to sue in state court if the military or federal law enforcement interferes with elections. 

Both bills require employers to notify employees within 48 hours of receiving notice that ICE will inspect I-9 and other employment records. An I-9 form verifies that an employee has proof of permission to work in the U.S. 

The New Bedford Market Basket suspended 47 immigrants in July 2025 after ICE initiated such an inspection. 

Republican pushback

Among the Republicans voting for the bill was Minority Leader Bruce Tarr of Gloucester. 

However, Tarr provided spirited resistance to the bill early in the debate, making a motion to suspend Senate rules to allow a vote on referring the bill to the Supreme Judicial Court for consultation on the bill’s constitutionality.

“We know that when we deal with the subject of the federal immigration law of our country, we know there is an intersection between the state’s ability to act and the preemption of the federal government,” Tarr said on the floor. “It is important to recognize that as we seek to protect the Constitution, our first obligation is not to violate it.”

The Senate voted down the motion 35 to 5.

Sen. Lydia Edwards, D-Boston, later spoke strongly against the idea that the bill violated constitutional principles.

“This is about how Massachusetts and its localities can interact with the federal government,” Edwards said. “That is what we are trying to do.”

The Senate rejected another amendment proposed by Tarr to strike the diversion of any 287(g) reimbursements to immigrant legal aid. 

After Tarr’s debate on the floor, observers and senators were caught off guard by his affirmative vote on the bill. Many cheered and applauded.

“We are very appreciative that Senator Tarr voted in favor,” Minter said. 

Kevin G. Andrade can be contacted at kandrade@newbedordlight.org. Jamie Perkins can be contacted at jperkins@newbedfordlight.org.