A group of Massachusetts immigration advocates are urging legislators to strengthen the PROTECT Act, legislation that would restrict state and local cooperation with federal immigration agents.
The People’s PROTECT Action Coalition, made up of 58 organizations, are hoping Senate leaders on Beacon Hill expand on legislation passed by the House in March, which they say falls short of what is necessary. They’re asking for three measures to be included, including more virtual access opportunities to address immigrants’ fears of showing up at court.
“We know that hundreds of immigrants have been detained after simply showing up to court,” said Jaya Savita, executive director of Asian Pacific Islander Civic Action Network, a member of the coalition. “That means people are at risk of doing exactly what the system asks them to.”
The coalition also wants the PROTECT Act to include prohibiting information sharing with ICE; to end information fusion centers; and to improve the visa processes for victims of crime, abuse, and trafficking survivors, known as U and T visa applicants.
Fusion centers are local and state hubs that collect and analyze intelligence and share it with federal immigration authorities.
Coalition members also want to end the 287(g) agreement between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Correction, which allows for immigration enforcement authority to be delegated to local law enforcement.
The current PROTECT Act passed by the House would bar federal immigration authorities from pursuing civil arrests at courthouses; expand due process rights for immigrants; ban state and local law enforcement from asking about immigration status unless compelled by law; and restrict private information-sharing or release coordination for civil ICE actions unless legally required or backed by a judge. It is sponsored by state reps. Andy Vargas of Haverhill and Judith Garcia of Chelsea.
The Senate is preparing its version currently.
Mariola Perez is an indigenous woman from Guatemala who fled violence and persecution in the country 16 years ago. She was outside of the State House on Monday advocating for the People’s PROTECT Act — an expanded version of the current legislation put forward by the coalition. In particular, she said she’s hoping information sharing will end between local police and ICE.
Perez said she was racially profiled by police on her way home from work at Salem State University in 2013. She said she was arrested for a traffic offense, and was fingerprinted then released. When she went to district court, ICE agents were waiting for her and her 3-year-old.
“They showed me some papers and said, 'you must appear at the Burlington ICE office or we will come and find you,'” she recounted. Perez was able to stay her removal order successfully, but still has to appear for ICE check-ins.
Since 2013, Perez has been an elementary school educator, has attended Salem State University and has volunteered for the community group, Lynn United for Change, which is advocating against her detention.
Perez went into an ICE check-in on April 8, and was told to return May 11 and to prepare to be detained, she said the crowd.
“This was terrifying news to me, and the first thing I thought was, 'What will happen to my teenage son if I’m not around?’” she said.
