Sanctuary proposal draws crowd
Hot-button bill debated in public forum
A bill to make Massachusetts a sanctuary state drew hundreds of supporters to Beacon Hill yesterday, but it faces roadblocks from Gov. Charlie Baker and others who called it risky legislation.
Residents from across the state crammed into a hearing on the Safe Communities Act, which is sponsored by state Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton) and state Rep. Juana Matias (D-Lawrence) and would bar local officials across the state from enforcing Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests to detain people suspected of border violations.
It would also prevent state agencies from giving information about residents’ religion or national origin to any federal registries, and halt agreements between federal officials and Bristol and Plymouth sheriffs that allow for officers to be ICE deputies.
Eldridge has proposed similar bills in the past that failed to make it through the Legislature and said he viewed the issue as a civil rights matter that should be made into law and not left up to individual cities and towns.
But while Eldridge said backlash to President Trump’s deportation policies has increased support from his fellow legislators, Baker and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo have both said they oppose a statewide sanctuary policy.
“I oppose this bill that would prohibit law enforcement from enforcing bipartisan policies that have been in place for 10 years and prevented violent and dangerous convicted criminals from being released back onto our streets,” Baker said in a statement that urged the Legislature to keep the bill in committee instead of acting on it. “Our administration does not support making the Commonwealth a sanctuary state.”
DeLeo added: “My feeling has always been I think we should leave it up to cities and towns in terms of whether to decide to be a sanctuary city and town.”
While many people at yesterday’s hearing spoke in favor of the Safe Communities Act, Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson and others pushed back, saying it would decrease communication between local and federal officials. Hodgson said the bill would encourage terrorists to come to the state and work undetected.
“There are people who would seek sanctuary in these areas where they know they’re less likely to be found out to plot and plan a catastrophic event. That’s common sense,” said Hodgson, who was repeatedly hissed at during testimony, leading committee chairman Harold Noughton to admonish the crowd.
Carol Rose, the executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU, said the bill did not stop ICE officials from making arrests on their own but would prevent local officials from holding people on federal charges after their local charges have already been dealt with. She said cooperating with ICE detainers would be unconstitutional and lead to immigrants being afraid to report crimes to local police.
“In no way does this create a sanctuary state permitting anyone to come here to commit a crime,” Rose told the Herald. “It’s just saying local police won’t become an arm of federal immigration enforcement, undermining community trust, community policing and public safety.”
Matias and other officials said connections between immigrants and local law enforcement could lead to decreases in crime, citing a fentanyl trafficking bust in Lawrence two weeks ago that information from immigrants contributed to. But Hodgson called that a “red herring.”