BOSTON ― Proponents of a bill proposing that Massachusetts become a “sanctuary state,” where the legal status of residents interacting with state and local law enforcement is protected from release to federal immigration officials, is a matter of ensuring that the right to due process for all who live in the Bay State.
The measure, the proponents claim, would help forge bonds of trust between local law enforcement officials and the immigrant community, taking the fear of deportation out of interactions ranging from reporting a crime, to driving without a driver’s license, to being arrested on a criminal offense.
“The bill has come a long way since it was first introduced in 2017,” said Amy Grunder, director of state government affairs for the Massachusetts Immigrant Refugee Advocacy Coalition, during a hearing Monday of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. “It incorporates the best advice from conversations with police chiefs, district attorneys and advocacy groups.”
The measure would not impede federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from working in the Bay State, Grunder said, but would end federal involvement in local police investigations that hamper adjudication of crimes.
Eight Massachusetts communities – Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton, Northampton and Somerville – have passed local legislation directing local law enforcement to refrain from divulging location and immigration status information to federal officials.
Worcester has not declared itself a sanctuary city and the city does not have any ordinances concerning the immigration status of any individual, according to a city spokesman. The Worcester Police Department does not have an official policy or practice that distinguishes people on the basis of their immigration status.
California, Maryland, New Jersey and Oregon have passed similar legislation declaring themselves sanctuary states.
In addition to barring local law enforcement from reaching out and disclosing immigration status and location information to federal officials, the bill would also sever the contract that allows ICE to deputize and train local police to enforce federal immigration policies.
Currently, only the state Department of Corrections has a signed 287(g) agreement with the federal government. Several local sheriff’s departments had signed contracts but the last of those, with Bristol and Plymouth counties, were terminated in 2021.
Speaking in favor of the companion bills introduced by Sen. Jamie Eldridge, D-Acton, and Representatives Ruth Balser, D-Newton and Manny Cruz, D-Salem, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan decried ICE tactics.
“They scoop them out of the courthouse,” said Ryan, adding that the state is rarely informed as to where they end up. If they appear at an immigration court, they could be released on bail and back into the community. “Once they are picked up by ICE, there is no way to get them back.”
Wendy S. Wayne, director of the Committee for Public Counsel Services Immigration Impact Unit, said there are 450 Massachusetts cases from the 18 months between January 2022 and August 2023 that are still pending because the defendants were arrested by ICE.
“They are open, unresolved; maybe the defendants were innocent, maybe the complaints against them were rescinded,” Wayne said. She believes they will never be resolved, pointing out that the victims in these cases may never have closure.
Both women pointed out that once cases are adjudicated and sentences have been served, local law enforcement can call ICE to disclose the whereabouts of a resident wanted on federal charges. Local law enforcement officers could also answer direct questions from federal authorities about whether they have a particular person in custody, however they could not proactively divulge such information.
In discussing the measure, Eldridge described the federal immigration system as “broken.”
Backers of the measure describe these main objectives:
“This bill simply draws a clear boundary between federal responsibilities and state and local responsibilities,” said Balser. “Local and state law enforcement already has enough on its plate.”
Cruz said his mother, who migrated from Dominican Republic and had attained a green card, endured the domestic abuse of two spouses who controlled her by threatening to report her immigrant status.
“This is not uncommon in immigrant communities,” Cruz noted, adding that all residents should feel safe reporting a crime, seeking a restraining order, reporting wage theft, seeking health care and social services, and being full participants in the local economy.
His experiences were echoed by Sen. Liz Miranda, D-Boston, who also grew up in a mix status household with roots in Cape Verde.
“My brother and father were deported as I walked onto the campus of Wellesley College,” Miranda said.
Boston resident John Thompson of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform said the greatest threat to immigrant communities were criminal migrants who victimized their own compatriots, and said allowing ICE to do its job benefits everyone.
Citing a 1996 act signed by former President Bill Clinton that supported deportations for felonious behavior, he also declared that “the government does not remove residents except for serious offenses.”
Quoting former President Donald Trump, Thompson said the government was focused on “really serious crimes, not motor vehicle violations. No one has been deported for being here illegally, only if they commit a serious crime.”
However, a New York law firm specializing in immigration proceedings, Richards/Jurusik, on its website declares that the top two reasons for deportation are overstaying a visa or being in the country illegally. Criminal activity and being deemed a public safety threat were then followed by immigration fraud or misrepresentation – marrying a citizen to obtain a green card.
On its website, ICE states that 92% of those removed from the United States in 2020 – some 185,884 people – had criminal convictions, leaving roughly 14,000 removed for other, unspecified reasons.
Ryan spoke of an incident in Lowell, an early-morning four-alarm fire. A frontline worker on his way to work saw the smoke and without hesitation, entered the building to awaken the sleeping resident, she said.
“He worried that the call he had made to 911 to alert the fire department would be traced back to his phone and ICE would be alerted and he would be deported,” Ryan said, adding he should have been hailed as a hero.
In Massachusetts, roughly 1,300 slots for children across Head Start’s 28 agencies have been eliminated in the last three years because federal funding has plateaued over that time, while the cost of running the program continues to rise, according to the Massachusetts Head Start Association. Nationally, Head Start enrollment dropped from 1.1 million kids in 2013 to around 785,000 in 2022, according to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
“If they didn’t get into a Head Start program, they would be sitting at home,” said Brittany Acosta, a Head Start parent in Dorchester.
It’s teachers are drastically underpaid, and there’s a serious need for a rainy day-type fund should the federal government shut down again, the association says. As they’ve done in years past, state lawmakers have offered to provide financial relief, but the Massachusetts Head Start Association’s request for 3 percent above the amount it received last year, an additional $4.6 million to help its staff keep up with the state’s rising cost of living, so far has not been allocated.
Last year, President Trump’s leaked budget proposal revealed he considered eliminating Head Start entirely. Then, in the summer, he cut off Head Start enrollment for immigrants without legal status. And during the fall’s government shutdown, four Head Start centers in Massachusetts closed because they couldn’t access their funding.
Trump’s latest budget proposal shows a fourth year without increasing funding for the program, which was established in the mid-1960s.
Michelle Haimowitz, executive director of the Massachusetts Head Start Association, said the program doesn’t want to eliminate more child slots than it already has, but paying teachers a competitive salary is equally important in order to keep them from leaving for higher paying jobs. Head Start teachers make under $50,000 annually compared to over $85,000 for the average Massachusetts kindergarten teacher.
“It’s an impossible choice,” Haimowitz said. “When we reduce the size of our programs, we’re not reducing the size of the need.”
Massachusetts is one of few states that supplements federal funding for Head Start, and last year it increased the program’s state grant from $5 million to $20 million, adding to the $189 million in federal aid it receives in this state.
“We can’t run a program without giving staff a raise for three years,” Haimowitz said. “Our next fight now is not just for survival, but it’s for thriving and growth.”
The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday released its budget, which doesn’t grant Head Start’s request of a 3 percent boost. But state Representative Christopher Worrell filed an amendment for additional funding. Worrell, whose district covers parts of Dorchester and Roxbury, said he loves Head Start’s embrace of culture, recalling one visit to a center where he could smell staff cooking stew chicken, a traditional Caribbean dish.
“I’ve been to dozens of schools throughout the district, and you don’t get that home-cooked meal,” Worrell said. “[The state is] stepping up and doing the best we can with what we have.”
At the Action for Boston Community Development’s Head Start and Early Head Start center in Dorchester, the children of Classroom 7 arrived one Monday morning and dove into bins of magnetic tiles before their teachers, Paola Polanco and Leolina Rasundar Chinnappa, served breakfast. Acosta dropped off her 4-year-old daughter, Violeta, before reporting to her teaching position at the center, where several other Head Start parents also work.
“It’s important for all Head Start parents to have the opportunity to give their child an experience in a learning environment before they actually start kindergarten,” Acosta said.
Beyond providing early education and care to children of low-income families, from birth to age 5, the program helps them access other resources, including mental health services, SNAP benefits, homelessness assistance, and employment opportunities.
It also serves as daycare for parents who might not be able to afford it, while they’re at work.
Research has shown the importance of preschool in a child’s development with one 2023 study, focused on Boston public preschools, finding that it improves student behavior and increases the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment.
For Rickencia Clerveaux and Christopher Mclean, the Dorchester Head Start center is the only place they feel comfortable sending their 3-year-old son, Shontz, who is on the autism spectrum. Shontz’s stimming — repetitive movements that stimulate the senses — has reduced, and his speech has improved since he joined the center in 2024, Clerveaux said.
His parents say he’s also come out of his shell. Mclean now drops his son off and gets a simple “bye” as Shontz joins his classmates, he said.
He and Clerveaux said they appreciate the specialized attention Shontz can receive from teachers, such as when staff identified that Shontz might have hearing issues. His parents were able to follow up with their doctor and get Shontz to have surgery to improve his hearing.
“It’s a safe net for parents,” Clerveaux said. “There’s so many ways that him being here helps him grow better.”
Without Head Start, Clerveaux said a lot of pressure would be put on parents to find care for their children, “knowing that they’re already struggling or not getting the ends to meet.”
“That’s a burden for everybody in the community,” she said. “If there’s no funding, there’s no daycare and parents cannot work.”
Lauren Albano can be reached at lauren.albano@globe.com. Follow her on X @LaurenAlbano_.
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Where are layoffs happening in Massachusetts?
As part of the federal The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, employers in Massachusetts with 50 or more employees are required to provide advance notice of mass layoffs.
The state publishes this data, known as WARN notices, weekly on Fridays. See recent layoff notices.
John Hancock can be reached at john.hancock@globe.com. Follow him @Hancock_JohnD.
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