The PROTECT Act

Signed into law by Governor Maura Healey, the PROTECT Act includes some of the strongest protections against ICE in the country.

On August 5, 2026, Governor Maura Healey signed the PROTECT Act into law. The Act strengthens public safety by ensuring residents can access schools, child care programs, medical care, and courts without fear of immigration enforcement; reinforces constitutional protections and due process rights; and restricts state and local involvement in federal immigration enforcement. The law also provides stronger protections for parents in case they are detained or deported, bans new 287(g) agreements and allows civil rights claims to be made against government officials, including ICE agents.  

Protecting Sensitive Locations

To keep people safe while they learn, receive treatment or seek justice, the PROTECT Act prohibits most civil arrests, including immigration arrests, without a judicial warrant or court order in: 

• Public K-12 schools, charter schools, vo-tech and agricultural schools 
• Child care centers, family day cares or group care facilities that are licensed or funded by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care. 
• Health care facilities (including nonpublic areas of hospitals, Community Health Centers, substance use disorder programs, and nursing homes)  
• State property (including nonpublic areas of buildings, land and other property controlled by the state) 
• Courthouses (beginning November 3, 2026) 

Guidance for Sensitive Locations 

Guidance for Law Enforcement

The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Municipal Police Training Committee and Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association jointly issued guidance for sworn officers and all employees of police departments, including dispatch and records staff.

Executive Order 650

Before the passage of the PROTECT Act, Governor Healey signed an Executive Order prohibiting ICE from making warrantless civil arrests in non-public areas of state facilities, and prohibiting the use of state property for immigration enforcement staging. 

The Healey-Driscoll Administration issued additional guidance under that Executive Order for higher education campuses and places of worship regarding interacting with ICE agents.

Supporting Families, Workers & Victims of Crime

The PROTECT Act gives families more tools to prepare for immigration-related emergencies, increases transparency for workers, and makes it easier for victims of certain crimes to access immigration protections. 

• Standby guardianship: Parents can now pre-arrange guardianship for their children in case they are detained or deported by ICE. 
• Notice of I-9 audits: Employers are now required to tell their employees within 48 hours of receiving notice of an I-9 audit of employment authorization documents by ICE. 
• U and T visa certifications: Victims of crime will have a faster, more consistent process for securing U and T visa certifications, with agencies required to respond within 45 days, or 14 business days in urgent cases (beginning November 3, 2026). 

Guidance for Families, Workers, Employers & Victims of Crime 

More on the PROTECT Act

The PROTECT Act strengthens protections for people and families affected by immigration enforcement, while expanding access to legal support and information: 

• Stronger legal protections: People can now sue government officials, including ICE agents, in state court for violating their federal constitutional rights. The Attorney General can now sue if federal troops interfere with voting or ICE arrests anyone in protected locations, including courthouses.   
• Limiting cooperation with ICE: The PROTECT Act preserves the public safety mission of state and local law enforcement agencies. State and local officials cannot ask about a person’s immigration or citizenship status, without a reason connected to a specific criminal matter; and they cannot detain or hold someone for an ICE pickup without a judicial order. State and local law enforcement agencies, and other state, local, and county offices, are prohibited from entering into new 287(g) agreements, except in narrow circumstances.  
• More transparency: The PROTECT Act establishes new legal access, transfer notice, language access and contact requirements for people detained in Massachusetts (beginning November 3, 2026). 
• Greater oversight: A new commission will study and make recommendations about immigration matters in the Commonwealth, including interacting with federal immigration agencies, funding immigration legal defense measures, and protecting other safe spaces like playgrounds, summer camps, and public libraries.