Safe Communities Act
Full title: An Act to protect the civil rights and safety of all Massachusetts residents (S.1579 / H.2418)
Lead sponsors: Sen. Jamie Eldridge, Rep. Ruth Balser & Rep. Liz Miranda
Committee: Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
Status: Received an extension until 6/1/2022
The Issue
Federal immigration enforcement practices have created a climate of fear in the Commonwealth. Across the country and here in Massachusetts (yes, Massachusetts), immigrant families have been separated and detained indefinitely or deported by ICE for any reason or no reason, without due process. This is happening despite the fact that most non-citizens in Massachusetts have lived here for more than 10 years and are deeply rooted in family and community here. More than 90% of deportation cases initiated in Massachusetts during the 2021 fiscal year (as of February) were against people who were charged solely with immigration violations, not crimes.
Massachusetts may not be able to stop deportations, but we can stop being complicit. Massachusetts law enforcement officers have, in many cases, voluntarily cooperated with federal immigration enforcement efforts–at Massachusetts taxpayer expense. If immigrants fear that interacting with state officials could get them or family members deported, they will cease to report crimes or emergencies. When immigrants fear state officials, we are all less safe.
Although the new administration in Washington has shown interest in reforming our immigration system, we don’t need to wait to act, especially when we should have acted years ago.
The Solution
The Safe Communities Act guarantees basic rights and ensures that state and local law enforcement aren’t deputized as federal immigration agents. It bars local law enforcement from asking about immigration status (codifying a practice already common across the state), ensures that undocumented immigrants are granted due process rights, and prevents ICE from disrupting fair access to the judicial process for both victims and defendants. Moreover, the bill ends 287(g) agreements, which deputize state and local law enforcement to ICE at taxpayer expense.
These reforms reflect a genuine vision of public safety: when communities are ripped apart, we are all less safe, and when communities are whole and everyone has access to justice, we are all safer.
Highlights
- Bars law enforcement from asking about immigration status (unless required by law): Many immigrants fear that calling 911 or speaking to police will lead to separation from family members. This makes them more vulnerable to domestic abuse, wage theft, and other crimes.
- Protects due process rights: Before ICE questions someone in local custody, police would have to obtain their consent and explain they have the right to decline an interview or have their own attorney present (rights commonly known as “Miranda” rights). Non-citizens are often unaware of these rights, but without such protections, they can unintentionally make statements that or sign documents that put their own cases in jeopardy.
- Ensure fair access to courts: Current practices enable and encourage ICE to take custody of people before they have their day in court, denying justice to victims and defendants alike. The SCA allows police and court officials to notify ICE of a person’s pending release from custody only at the end of a sentence, not before.
- Bans 287(g) agreements: These contracts, which allow state and county personnel to act as federal immigration agents at state taxpayers’ expense, are the most extreme form of entanglement with ICE. Massachusetts is the only state in New England to have such agreements, and we have four: with Bristol, Barnstable, and Plymouth counties, and the Department of Corrections.
- Requires law enforcement training: The bill also requires that law enforcement agencies incorporate this guidance into their training programs, and permits the filing of complaints with the relevant agencies.
Contact Your Legislators
Find your legislators’ contact information here.
I urge you to cosponsor the Safe Communities Act (S.1579/H.2418). As we celebrate the federal government’s renewed appreciation for the contributions of immigrants, we must also end our state’s longstanding involvement in deportations by supporting this critical legislation, which was reported out favorably last year by the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security.
The COVID-19 crisis has underscored the detrimental impacts of this involvement—undermining testing, treatment and contact tracing efforts in immigrant communities, and impeding immigrant access to court and police protection.
In the interest of public health, public safety, and an equitable recovery that includes all state residents, I hope I can count on your support for this bill.
- We believe ALL immigrants are welcome in our community. The #SafeCommunitiesAct would be a step toward delivering on that promise. #mapoli
- The #SafeCommunitiesAct is about safety: when communities are ripped apart, we are all less safe, and when communities are whole and everyone has access to justice, we are all safer. #mapoli
- Deputizing state and local law enforcement to ICE makes us all less safe, leading to families being ripped apart and increasing racial profiling. #SafeCommunitiesAct #mapoli
- Deportations disrupt the economy by depleting the workforce and pushing the undocumented into the underground economy. We all benefit from the #SafeCommunitiesAct. #mapoli
- The #SafeCommunitiesAct makes sure that we aren’t spending public money in ways that make the public less safe. That’s basic fiscal responsibility. #mapoli
- We can’t wait for the federal government to take action to protect immigrants’ rights. It’s time to pass the #SafeCommunitiesAct. #mapoli
- A new White House doesn’t mean the fight for immigrants’ rights is over. The #SafeCommunitiesAct is just as important than ever. Let’s get it done. #mapoli
- If we want a successful and equitable recovery from COVID-19, we must pass the #SafeCommunitiesAct. #mapoli
Write a Letter to the Editor
Adapt the template below! Or email us at issues@progressivemass.com for help!
Over the past several years, federal immigration enforcement practices have created a climate of fear in the Commonwealth. Across the country and here in Massachusetts, immigrants have been uprooted, separated from their families, and detained indefinitely or deported by ICE for any reason or no reason, without due process. Yes, right here in Massachusetts.
Although we now have a more favorable administration in Washington toward immigrants, these issues pre-dated Trump, and they will outlast him if we do not take clear action.
That’s why Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Reps. Ruth Balser and Liz Miranda re-introduced the Safe Communities Act. The bill would guarantee basic rights and ensure that state and local law enforcement aren’t deputized as federal immigration agents. It bars local law enforcement from asking about immigration status (codifying a practice already common across the state), ensures that undocumented immigrants are granted due process rights, and prevents ICE from disrupting fair access to the judicial process for both victims and defendants. Moreover, the bill ends 287(g) agreements, which deputize state and local law enforcement to ICE at taxpayer expense.
These reforms reflect a genuine vision of public safety: when communities are ripped apart, we are all less safe, and when communities are whole and everyone has access to justice, we are all safer. It’s past time for the Massachusetts State House to pass the Safe Communities Act and show that we actually believe in “liberty and justice for all.”
Read More
- Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina and Esther Arenas-Arroyo.“Police Trust and Domestic Violence: Evidence from Immigration Policies.” Discussion Paper No. 12721. Institute of Labor Economics. October 2019. https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/12721/police-trust-and-domestic-violence-evidence-from-immigration-policies.
- Betancourt, Sarah. “Doctors: Immigration Crackdown Raising Health Care Concerns.” CommonWealth. September 18, 2019, https://commonwealthmagazine.org/immigration/doctors-immigration-crackdown-raising-healthcare-concerns/.
- Betancourt, Sarah. “Undocumented Abuse Survivors Break Silence on Bus.” CommonWealth. June 26, 2019. https://commonwealthmagazine.org/immigration/undocumented-abuse-survivors-break-silence-on-bus.
- Gonzalez O’Brien, Benjamin, Loren Collingwood, and Stephen Omar El-Khatib. “The Politics of Refuge: Sanctuary Cities, Crime, and Undocumented Immigration. Urban Affairs Review 55, no. 1 (2019), https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1078087417704974?journalCode=uarb.
- Jirmanus, Larua. “Immigrant Families In Mass. Shouldn’t Have To Live In Fear Of The Police.” WBUR. June 13, 2018. https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/06/13/immigration-ice-massachusetts-lara-jirmanus.
- “Massachusetts,” New American Economy, accessed February 22, 2020, https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/locations/massachusetts/.
- Wong, Tom. “The Effects of Sanctuary Policies on Crime and the Economy.” Center for American Progress. January 26, 2017. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/reports/2017/01/26/297366/the-effects-of-sanctuary-policies-on-crime-and-the-economy/.
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