Immigrant Protection Bills Inch Closer to Passage in Mass.

Amid widespread fear across the country over federal immigration law enforcement activities, legislation aimed at providing new protections for immigrants in Massachusetts got one step closer to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk on Thursday.

The Senate voted 37-3 to pass a Ways and Means redraft (S 3072) of legislation (H 5316) the House approved 134-21 in March. {snip}

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The most glaring distinction that House and Senate negotiators will have to resolve is where warrant requirements for civil arrests will apply. The House bill would specifically protect courthouses only. It also includes language granting the governor authority to ban or limit civil immigration enforcement in nonpublic areas of “any state entity.” The Senate adopted language to create four additional categories of protected spaces, with detailed policy, notice, and parent-notification requirements for schools and child care programs.

The Senate bill creates a right of action letting individuals sue under state law for constitutional deprivations; the House did not. The House bill spelled out obligations for jails and prisons around legal access, interpreter services, transfer notification, and a public locator line; the Senate did not. The House also included a requirement that courts consider a defendant’s “likelihood of imminent deportation” when setting bail; the Senate did not.

The Senate-approved bill includes tighter restrictions around providing non-public personal information and other information to federal immigration authorities.

It also does not preserve the narrow pathway for criminal-purpose 287(g) agreements that the House bill left open. Representatives passed a bill that includes a way for law enforcement agencies to petition the state for authorization to enter into a time-limited cooperation agreement with ICE that could not be automatically renewed. The Senate prohibits all new, expanded or renewed 287(g) agreements but, like the House, allows the state Department of Correction to maintain its existing agreement.

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