Train staff on what they need to know during interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and stay calm. That’s the latest advice from the Healey administration — part of a series of guidelines announced Thursday on how public spaces, schools, day cares, hospitals and places of worship should deal with ICE agents.
The five guidances build on an executive order Healey signed in January banning most new ICE agreements with local law enforcement, preventing ICE from making civil arrests in private areas of state property and prohibiting the use of said property for immigration enforcement staging.
“I’m taking action and will do whatever I can to keep our little kids safe, to keep their parents safe. And to send a message loud and clear to ICE that they need to stay out of Massachusetts and stay out vulnerable, sensitive spaces,” Healey said at a Thursday morning press conference.
“People should be able to go to church, to drop their kids off at school, to go get health care, to go report crimes,” she added. “Unfortunately, ICE is making that very difficult.”
The governor acknowledged that school enrollment is down in municipalities where ICE has been present.
“ICE is scaring our families away. ... How is that making our community and our commonwealth safer? How is that making our nation stronger? It isn’t,” Healey said.
For educators and day care providers, one guidance says that education and day care entities should designate a high-ranking director or administrator to be the point of contact when ICE arrives on site, and that person should be trained on how to engage and distinguish between judicial and administrative warrants. If the point person isn’t physically there when ICE arrives, they should be contacted.
A spot to have ICE officers wait should already be pre-planned, and private versus public areas in the school or facility already designated. The Healey administration said this should ideally be outside — away from children, students and families. If ICE officers ignore staff and go into “nonpublic areas,” though, staff should not physically block them.
Staff shouldn’t provide any personal details of students or their families to ICE officers.
The guidance for hospitals is similar, but notes that patient information should be protected and the needs of patients should be prioritized, even with ICE officers present.
“Detainees are entitled to discuss protected health information with staff outside of the earshot of Federal Immigration Officers,” the guidance also notes. If agents try to obstruct medical staff from getting protected health information, hospital leadership needs to be notified.
“Fear of immigration enforcement should never be a barrier to getting medical care,” said Jennifer Lemmerman, executive director of Health Care for All.
“We continue to hear from consumers and community partners that these concerns are causing some people to delay care or even avoid it altogether,” she said. “Access means very little if people are afraid to use it.”
Similar to the guidance for schools and hospitals, the guidance for houses of worship urges leaders to designate public and nonpublic areas of their space, share and post those, and train staff. They also gave examples of additional considerations, like only allowing congregants and worshippers to attend services, providing written visitor policies and codes of conduct, and scheduling know-your-rights sessions with worshipers.
“This guidance should not be necessary,” the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond said. “Many of us follow a higher law that is thousands of years old. And we will not let any political agenda of the moment draw us away from those higher principles — this guidance reminds us how we lean in to following those things to which we have dedicated our lives.”
The Healey administration also provided two guidances on prohibiting warrantless arrests in private areas of state property and prohibiting usage of state facilities for civil immigration enforcement. This doesn’t apply to buildings run by the trial court system, municipalities or public colleges.
Healey filed legislation in January to keep ICE out of courthouses, schools, child care programs, hospitals and places of worship.
The guidelines urge the public to document any arrests using photographs or video, without interfering, and send to the state using a hotline at 617-988-2474 or emailing EO650-reports@mass.gov, or submit on https://www.mass.gov/fedmisconduct.
“We need to do everything we can to protect our immigrant communities, particularly to ensure they are safe in schools, hospitals, courthouses and houses of worship,” said Liz Sweet, executive director of MIRA Coalition, an immigrant advocacy group. “ICE’s continued violence and use of paramilitary tactics has no place in Massachusetts and we are grateful to Governor Healey for her strong stance to protect people in our state.”
