PROTECT Act bills go to conference committee

Legislation aimed at keeping federal immigration enforcement out of sensitive places has passed the House and Senate and now moves to a six-member conference committee to resolve differences between the two versions.

The legislation — “promoting the rule of law, oversight, trust, and equal constitutional treatment” or PROTECT — was filed by Gov. Maura Healey in January, along with an Executive Order prohibiting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel from making civil arrests in non-public areas of state facilities, and prohibiting the use of state property for immigration enforcement staging.

The House and Senate versions of the bill differ in their scope.

The House version, passed in March, would restrict warrantless arrests in courthouses and includes language that would allow the governor to ban or limit civil immigration enforcement in nonpublic areas of any “state entity.”

The House bill includes provisions for jails and prisons to follow on legal access, interpreter services, and transfer notifications, which the Senate did not include.

The more-extensive Senate version, passed in early May, would include schools, childcare centers, hospitals and places of worship as areas where federal immigration enforcement cannot be pursued without a warrant.

The Senate bill would create a right-of-action allowing individuals to sue under state law for constitutional deprivations. The House bill does not include such a provision.

The Senate bill would also prohibit law enforcement agencies and political subdivisions from executing or renewing a 287(g) memorandum of agreement with federal immigration authorities. Like the House version, the Senate bill would allow the state Department of Correction to maintain its existing agreement.

Under new legislative rules, the conference committee must report out the compromise bill and the Legislature must act upon it by the first week of January 2027.