A mother who says her child was sexually assaulted pleaded with legislators Wednesday to pass a bill that could allow her to pursue justice against her daughter’s alleged rapist.
Brenda Romero, a 35-year-old Chelsea resident and immigrant from Honduras, testified before the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security in favor of the so-called PROTECT Act, which would bar federal immigration authorities from pursuing civil arrests at courthouses.
Six months ago, Romero’s husband was detained by ICE while walking out of a courthouse. It happened shortly after he was approved for political asylum at a local courthouse — a short-lived moment of “peace.”
“In a matter of minutes, our joy turned to trauma. For six months, my daughters had to live without their father,” she recounted at the hearing with translation help from Gladys Vega, executive director of social services organization La Colaborativa.
The family has a case before the Massachusetts Superior Court, but Romero says she’s scared to go forward with it.
“One of my daughters was the victim of a horrific crime. I am terrified,” she said through sobs. Romero has three daughters, ages 6, 10 and 17, but didn’t indicate which one endured the assault. “I am agonizing over whether to continue pursuing justice against her rapist. Not because I do not want justice, but because I am afraid to walk into a courthouse.”
The PROTECT Act legislation aims to bolster due-process rights for immigrants, and to prohibit civil immigration arrests in and around courthouses without a judicial warrant..
Advocates and legislators testified at the Wednesday hearing about the effects of immigration enforcement in their communities, ranging from people being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without criminal records, to local businesses hampered significantly by fears of immigrants afraid to leave their homes.
The Promoting Rule of law, Oversight, Trust, and Equal Constitutional Treatment Act, sponsored by state representatives Andy Vargas of Haverhill and Judith Garcia of Chelsea, also grants the state Attorney General with enforcement authority for when protections granted in the bill are violated.
“We were deliberate about staying within the bounds of state authority,” said Vargas. “We studied what other states did and what has held up in court and where the legal lines are. This bill does not attempt to nullify federal law, because obviously we can’t do that. It draws careful, defensible boundaries around state and local participation in civil immigration enforcement.”
Vargas and nonprofit leaders said the hundreds of cases before district attorneys have been impacted as a result of fear immigrants feel about going to courthouses. Victim and witness testimonies are down, they said.
Abby Taylor, chief deputy attorney general, testified that the civil arrests in courthouses “chill access to justice,” and have disrupted judicial operations.
The legislation bans state and local law enforcement from asking about immigration status unless compelled by law, and restricts private information sharing or release coordination for civil ICE actions unless legally required or backed by a judge.
The bill blocks civil immigration partnerships without the approval from the state Executive Office of Public Safety And Security. So-called 287(g) agreements deputize local police to act as immigration agents in their duties. The bill only allows the creation of those partnership agreements if they are related to formal collaboration on criminal cases, and only with public notice, comment and Attorney General consultation. There is also an exception for the state Department of Correction.
“We should not under any circumstances be using state employees to do the work of ICE,” said Donna Buckley, the Barnstable County sheriff. “It doesn’t make sense to continue that agreement. It doesn’t serve a public safety purpose.”
Massachusetts Sheriffs Association came out in favor of the legislation on the panel Buckley spoke on, which included Plymouth County sheriff Joseph McDonald Jr., who has the only ICE detention facility on the county level.
The PROTECT Act would also establish a secure locator for people to find where a person is detained, establish an intake rights notice and language access, along with rapid legal access. It would create a facility hotline at Plymouth’s ICE detention center.
The most intense debate was about a part of a similar proposal from Gov. Maura Healey that would create safe spaces in courthouses, hospitals and schools. Some advocates hope it can be added to the PROTECT Act.
One legislator asked what the expectation would be of law enforcement for enforcement. President Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, said he worries the general public might be misled, thinking that if they call 911 about a safe space, Boston police officers will “show up and remove [ICE officers].“
“That is completely false,” he said. “Local police authorities have no authority to remove federal officials. We cannot interfere with federal officers or federal law.“
Rep. Michelle Ciccolo of Lexington asked what would occur if ICE shows up and “breaks down a door or enters [a safe space] without someone’s permission.”
“Will you respond to that as a breaking and entry? Or will you stand down because it’s a federal agent,” she asked.
Calderone said police can observe, but won’t obstruct agents.
“If Boston police officers show up at a 911 call for breaking and entering, and we get there, and ICE officers are doing their job in their opinion, and they’re not harming anyone—our body cameras are going to be on, we’re going to be videotaping, we’re going to observe, and we’re going to write reports on the incident that happened. But we’re not gonna interfere with the federal officials,” he said.
Rep. David Linsky of Natick further asked what would happen if an ICE agent is “actually committing a crime” when Boston police arrive. “Because they’re not immune, they’re not immune,” he said.
Calderone answered, “We’re there to protect and serve. If someone’s being harmed, we’ll intervene, but that would be the extent of it. Other than that, we’re gonna follow the Trust Act to have our cameras on and document the situation.”
The bill would not apply to arrests based on criminal warrants. Legislators also included language to address what they call detainee “ghosting,” or immigrants disappearing into the detention system without the ability for family to look them up, and their due process rights limited.
House Speaker Ron Mariano said in a statement Wednesday morning saying that “the House will vote this spring on pragmatic legislative solutions that seek to protect Massachusetts residents from federal immigration agents, within the confines of state law.” He also said he’s been in touch with the Black and Latino Legislative caucus over the bill. It must be voted on by the committee to advance.
