Massachusetts legislators heard testimony Monday about a bill to limit local police cooperation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Advocates testifying in support of the bill said it would limit police from sharing information about immigrants on civil matters with federal authorities.
Amy Grunder is with the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy coalition and testified on the bill.
"Critically, its passage would enable immigrants to confidently seek protection from abuse and exploitation without fear of immigration consequences,” Grunder said.
Grunder said a main fear undocumented immigrants have is being deported.
Opponents of the bill argued that it would hamstring police from removing potentially dangerous individuals from the country.
"There probably is some fear on the part of immigrant communities or those where there are noncitizens, but you have to weigh this against the fact that the best service that you could perform for such communities is to remove criminals from their midst," said John Thompson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform. "That would not only protect them but would protect the rest of us."
But Wendy Wayne from the public defender agency, Immigration Impact Unit, said this wouldn’t impede police from collaborating with federal authorities on investigating and prosecuting undocumented immigrants involved in federal criminal activity.
Wayne said undocumented immigrants in correctional facilities oftentimes don't know their rights and this bill is trying to level the field.
“People are often interviewed by ICE without knowing that that who that's who has come to visit them. And they say, ‘Talk to us’ when the person doesn't have to talk to them,” Wayne said. “So this bill specifically addresses some of that by saying that Massachusetts officials are also required to make sure that somebody knows if there's a detainer.”
This bill has been introduced since 2017, but advocates hope this is the year it becomes law. They say about 50 municipalities in the state already limit their police departments' involvement in civil immigration enforcement.
The committee will take two weeks to consider voting favorably for the bill or can send it back for further study.
This report contains information from the State House News Service.
