Overview
- Governor Maura Healey signed the PROTECT Act into law on Wednesday, making its core protections effective immediately through an emergency preamble.
- The statute forbids warrantless civil immigration arrests by ICE in listed 'sensitive' locations including state courthouses, public schools, child care centers and health‑care facilities.
- The law codifies the state Supreme Judicial Court’s 2017 Lunn precedent, bars new 287(g) deputization agreements while preserving the existing Department of Correction transfer arrangement with ICE, and prohibits routine citizenship questions during ordinary police stops unless needed to enforce criminal law.
- The PROTECT Act creates state-level remedies by authorizing civil claims and empowering the attorney general and district attorneys to pursue alleged violations by ICE, a set of powers that Massachusetts officials say will hold agents accountable.
- The Department of Homeland Security has publicly opposed the bill and federal–state tensions are likely to continue as state agencies issue implementation guidance and legal challenges from the federal government are expected.