The PROTECT Act is now Massachusetts law
We are thrilled to share breaking news: the PROTECT Act is officially the law in Massachusetts! It’s a sweeping win for immigrant residents across the Commonwealth, with strong protections spanning schools, daycare facilities, hospitals, courtrooms, state agency offices, and local, county, and state law enforcement, among other contexts. The law includes many provisions, including strong requirements for school districts to protect immigrant students, educators, and parents. School-based protections were the central focus of MAC’s advocacy, which we highlight below.
Here’s what the new law means for schools:
ICE is not allowed to make civil immigration arrests on school grounds unless agents have a warrant or order signed by a judge.
Every school district must have an emergency response plan in place by the first day of the new school year. These plans must detail how schools will safely respond if ICE or other law enforcement show up and include how schools will notify parents if that happens.
This law comes at a dire moment of escalating violence against our immigrant neighbors. In just the last few weeks, we have seen Temporary Protected Status protections rescinded for Haitian and Syrian communities and a stark increase in deportations nationwide. These actions put the wellbeing and safety of each impacted student and family at risk. While threats to immigrant students continue across the country, Massachusetts has taken a bold stand to make sure schools protect immigrant students.
We are deeply grateful to Governor Maura Healey, Senate President Spilka, Speaker Mariano, Leader Peisch, Conference Committee Chairs Friedman and Cahill, Committee Members Sen. Payano, Rep. Vargas, Rep. Vaughn, and members of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus for standing up for our immigrant neighbors. Thank you also to the many legislative staffers who worked tirelessly to get this bill across the finish line.
This victory was also made possible by the powerful advocacy of our statewide coalition – families, educators, legal advocates, and community partners – who came together to demand that Massachusetts protect immigrant students, parents, and educators in schools.
Now our work continues. We will make sure that families and school communities across the state are informed of this new law and hold their districts and the state accountable for keeping students, parents, and educators safe.
Thank you to our amazing partners!
A special thanks to our teacher's union partners in coordinating advocacy efforts and specifically to the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts (AFT-MA) for partnering on our Advocacy Alert for the PROTECT Act.
And to our other partners, including many members of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigrant and ML Justice in Education (MA-CIMJE). Through this coalition, we gathered over 650+ petition signatures, sent 3 letters to the House, Senate, and Conference Committee with over 20+ organization signatures, hundreds of constituent emails to lawmakers, and more!
If you have any questions about your education rights under the PROTECT Act, call MAC’s multilingual Helpline at 617 357-8431.