HD5608 — File 26-0247

1 of 3 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5608 FILED ON: 1/28/2026 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _________________ PRESENTED BY: Andres X. Vargas and Judith A. Garcia _________________ To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General Court assembled: The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: An Act promoting rule of law, oversight, trust, and equal constitutional treatment ("The PROTECT Act"). _______________ PETITION OF: NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED: Andres X. Vargas 3rd Essex 1/28/2026 Judith A. Garcia 11th Suffolk 1/28/2026 Frank A. Moran 17th Essex 1/28/2026 Carlos González 10th Hampden 1/28/2026 Marcus S. Vaughn 9th Norfolk 1/28/2026 Priscila S. Sousa 6th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Manny Cruz 7th Essex 1/28/2026 Rita A. Mendes 11th Plymouth 1/28/2026 Samantha Montaño 15th Suffolk 1/28/2026 Brandy Fluker-Reid 12th Suffolk 1/28/2026 Kip A. Diggs 2nd Barnstable 1/28/2026 Leigh Davis 3rd Berkshire 1/28/2026 Shirley B. Arriaga 8th Hampden 1/28/2026 Homar Gómez 2nd Hampshire 1/28/2026 Russell E. Holmes 6th Suffolk 1/28/2026 Orlando Ramos 9th Hampden 1/29/2026 Estela A. Reyes 4th Essex 1/28/2026

2 of 3 Francisco E. Paulino 16th Essex 1/29/2026 Danillo A. Sena 37th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Chynah Tyler 7th Suffolk 1/28/2026 Christopher J. Worrell 5th Suffolk 1/29/2026 Bud L. Williams 11th Hampden 1/28/2026 Liz Miranda Second Suffolk 1/28/2026 Adam Gómez Hampden 1/28/2026 Lydia Edwards Third Suffolk 1/28/2026 Mindy Domb 3rd Hampshire 1/28/2026 David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf 17th Worcester 1/28/2026 Lindsay N. Sabadosa 1st Hampshire 1/28/2026 Tara T. Hong 18th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Christopher Hendricks 11th Bristol 1/28/2026 Sal N. DiDomenico Middlesex and Suffolk 1/28/2026 Hannah Bowen 6th Essex 1/28/2026 Pavel M. Payano First Essex 1/28/2026 Tommy Vitolo 15th Norfolk 1/28/2026 Sally P. Kerans 13th Essex 1/28/2026 Tricia Farley-Bouvier 2nd Berkshire 1/28/2026 Vanna Howard 17th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Jack Patrick Lewis 7th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Steven Owens 29th Middlesex 1/28/2026 David Paul Linsky 5th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Michelle M. DuBois 10th Plymouth 1/28/2026 Amy Mah Sangiolo 11th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Thomas M. Stanley 9th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Marjorie C. Decker 25th Middlesex 1/28/2026 Christine P. Barber 34th Middlesex 1/29/2026 Natalie M. Higgins 4th Worcester 1/29/2026 Patricia A. Duffy 5th Hampden 1/29/2026 Thomas W. Moakley Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket 1/29/2026 Jennifer Balinsky Armini 8th Essex 1/29/2026 Dawne Shand 1st Essex 1/29/2026 William F. MacGregor 10th Suffolk 1/29/2026 Sean Reid 11th Essex 1/29/2026 Rodney M. Elliott 16th Middlesex 1/29/2026 Ryan M. Hamilton 15th Essex 1/29/2026 Tram T. Nguyen 18th Essex 1/29/2026 Steven Ultrino 33rd Middlesex 1/29/2026

3 of 3 Mike Connolly 26th Middlesex 1/29/2026 Aaron L. Saunders 7th Hampden 1/29/2026 Simon Cataldo 14th Middlesex 1/29/2026 James C. Arena-DeRosa 8th Middlesex 1/29/2026 Michelle L. Badger 1st Plymouth 1/29/2026 John Barrett, III 1st Berkshire 1/29/2026 Michelle L. Ciccolo 15th Middlesex 1/29/2026 Nick Collins First Suffolk 2/9/2026 William J. Driscoll, Jr. Norfolk, Plymouth and Bristol 2/2/2026 Lisa Field 3rd Bristol 2/1/2026 Barry R. Finegold Second Essex and Middlesex 1/29/2026 Sean Garballey 23rd Middlesex 1/29/2026 Carmine Lawrence Gentile 13th Middlesex 2/1/2026 Jessica Ann Giannino 16th Suffolk 1/31/2026 Kenneth I. Gordon 21st Middlesex 2/3/2026 James K. Hawkins 2nd Bristol 1/30/2026 Kevin G. Honan 17th Suffolk 1/29/2026 Patricia D. Jehlen Second Middlesex 2/9/2026 Kristin E. Kassner 2nd Essex 1/30/2026 Robyn K. Kennedy First Worcester 1/29/2026 Michael P. Kushmerek 3rd Worcester 2/4/2026 John J. Lawn, Jr. 10th Middlesex 2/6/2026 Jason M. Lewis Fifth Middlesex 2/5/2026 Jay D. Livingstone 8th Suffolk 1/29/2026 Adrian C. Madaro 1st Suffolk 1/29/2026 Rebecca L. Rausch Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex 1/29/2026 David M. Rogers 24th Middlesex 1/29/2026 Adam J. Scanlon 14th Bristol 1/29/2026 Greg Schwartz 12th Middlesex 1/29/2026

1 of 12 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5608 FILED ON: 1/28/2026 HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. By Representatives Vargas of Haverhill and Garcia of Chelsea, a petition (subject to Joint Rule 12) of Andres X. Vargas, Judith A. Garcia and others for legislation to further regulate state and local participation in federal civil immigration enforcement. Public Safety and Homeland Security. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts _______________ In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court (2025-2026) _______________ An Act promoting rule of law, oversight, trust, and equal constitutional treatment ("The PROTECT Act"). Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 6E of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after 2 section 4 the following section:- 3 Section 4A. As part of the background and qualification check for certification or 4 recertification, an applicant shall disclose whether the applicant was employed by or contracted 5 with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or United States Customs and Border 6 Protection at any time, and the nature, duration and role of such employment or contracting. The 7 commission shall consider such information for purposes of assessing training needs and 8 ensuring compliance with the commonwealth’s standards for de-escalation and bias-free 9 policing. Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a categorical disqualification based 10 solely on prior federal employment. For purposes of this section, “contracted with” shall mean

2 of 12 11 contracting to provide law enforcement, detention, intelligence, investigative, removal or 12 operational support services. 13 SECTION 2. Chapter 127 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after 14 section 87A the following section:- 15 Section 87B. (a) This section shall apply to any state correctional facility, state prison or 16 county correctional facility that houses individuals pursuant to an intergovernmental service 17 agreement or other contract for detention under federal civil immigration authority. 18 (b) Upon intake, the facility shall provide each detained individual, in the individual’s 19 primary language: (i) written notice of the right to legal counsel; (ii) written notice of the right to 20 decline interviews by federal immigration authorities or consular officials unless counsel is 21 present; (iii) instructions for contacting counsel and legal services; and (iv) the facility’s 22 procedures for confidential legal communications and grievance review. 23 (c) The facility shall ensure confidential, unmonitored attorney-client telephone 24 communications. In addition to outbound calling options, the facility shall provide a verified 25 immigration-counsel line that permits counsel of record in an immigration proceeding to 26 complete not less than 1 confidential inbound call per day with the detained individual, or, if 27 direct inbound calling is technologically infeasible, the facility shall provide a system for counsel 28 to request a confidential callback that occurs within 24 hours of the request. 29 (d) The facility shall maintain a secure electronic locator system identifying individuals 30 detained under federal civil immigration authority. The locator shall not be made publicly 31 available. The locator shall be updated not later than 6 hours after intake into the facility and not 32 later than 6 hours after any transfer into or out of the facility. At minimum, the locator shall

3 of 12 33 provide: (i) confirmation of custody in the facility; (ii) contact-routing information sufficient for 34 counsel and family to maintain contact; and (iii) a facility phone process for legal calls and 35 general inquiries. Access shall be provided to: (1) counsel of record; (2) legal services 36 organizations designated by the secretary; and (3) a person designated by the detained individual 37 at intake orally or in writing and recorded in the intake record; provided, however, that the 38 detained individual may elect confidential status, in which case access under clause (3) shall not 39 be provided unless later authorized by the detained individual. The facility shall implement 40 reasonable identity verification, auditing and privacy safeguards and shall limit disclosure to the 41 minimum information necessary to locate and contact the detained individual. The facility shall 42 adopt written policies for identity verification and access control, shall maintain audit logs of 43 access attempts and disclosures for not less than 1 year and shall provide the secretary with such 44 policies upon request. 45 (e) The facility shall provide meaningful language access, including translated intake 46 materials and qualified interpretation for medical, mental health, disciplinary, legal-access and 47 grievance interactions. 48 (f) The facility shall not impede a detained individual’s access to immigration relief or 49 required proceedings. The facility shall provide transportation to, or functional remote access for, 50 mandatory government appointments, including but not limited to Executive Office for 51 Immigration Review hearings, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services biometrics, 52 fingerprinting, interviews and any other court-ordered proceeding. The facility shall document 53 compliance and promptly notify counsel of record of any appointment that is rescheduled or 54 missed for facility-related reasons.

4 of 12 55 (g) The secretary of public safety and security shall promulgate regulations establishing 56 minimum compliance and auditing standards for this section. 57 (h) Not later than 2 hours after intake, the facility shall provide each detained individual 58 the opportunity to place 1 free telephone call to a person of the individual’s choosing for the 59 purpose of notifying that person of the individual’s location and arranging care or other urgent 60 personal matters; provided, however, that the facility may delay the call only for documented, 61 case-specific security or medical reasons and shall provide the call as soon as practicable. 62 (i) The facility shall maintain a single telephone hotline, with hours of operation 63 sufficient to provide timely location confirmation, by which a caller may obtain confirmation of 64 whether an individual is in custody at the facility and obtain contact instructions; provided, 65 however, that the facility may require the caller to provide the individual’s full name and date of 66 birth, and additional identifying information only as necessary to resolve multiple matches. The 67 facility shall, upon transfer of a detained individual to or from the facility, make reasonable 68 efforts to notify counsel of record and any designated contact recorded pursuant to subsection (d) 69 not later than 6 hours after the transfer is effected, including the name of the receiving facility 70 and instructions for locating the individual. 71 SECTION 3. Chapter 147 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the 72 following section:- 73 Section 64. (a). For the purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the 74 context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: 75 “Law enforcement agency”, as defined in section 1 of chapter 6E.

5 of 12 76 “Federal immigration authority”, the United States Department of Homeland Security, 77 Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection or any successor entity, 78 and any person acting on their behalf. 79 “Civil immigration process”, any civil immigration detainer request, administrative 80 warrant, notice to appear, removal order or other civil immigration document not issued by a 81 judge of a court of competent jurisdiction upon a finding of probable cause. 82 “Nonpublic personal information”, information not otherwise available to the public that 83 is maintained by a law enforcement agency or political subdivision, including but not limited to 84 home address, personal telephone number, email address, place of employment, school or 85 childcare location, medical information and release date or time from custody. 86 (b) Except as required by federal or state law, or pursuant to a judicial warrant or court 87 order, no officer or employee of a law enforcement agency shall: (i) inquire about the 88 immigration or citizenship status of any person; provided, however, that an officer may make 89 such inquiry only when the officer has an articulable, case-specific reason to believe the person’s 90 immigration or citizenship status is directly material to an element of a specific criminal offense 91 under the laws of the commonwealth being investigated, and the officer documents that reason in 92 the incident report or case file; (ii) record or maintain immigration or citizenship status 93 information except as required by federal or state law or as documented pursuant to clause (i); or 94 (iii) use state or local resources for the primary purpose of facilitating a federal civil immigration 95 enforcement action. Notwithstanding clause (i), a law enforcement agency shall not inquire into 96 the immigration or citizenship status of a victim of crime, witness or person seeking assistance, 97 except where specifically required by federal or state law. For purposes of clause (i),

6 of 12 98 immigration or citizenship status shall be deemed directly material only when necessary to 99 establish an element of a specific criminal offense under the laws of the commonwealth, and 100 shall not be deemed directly material for assessing credibility, cooperation or for general 101 information gathering. 102 (c) Except as required by federal or state law or pursuant to a judicial warrant or court 103 order, no officer or employee of a law enforcement agency shall: (i) provide nonpublic personal 104 information to a federal immigration authority; or (ii) provide advance notice of a person’s 105 release date, time or location, or facilitate a transfer timed to enable a federal civil immigration 106 enforcement action. 107 (d) (1) No law enforcement agency or political subdivision of the commonwealth, except 108 for the department of correction, shall execute, renew or materially expand a memorandum of 109 agreement under section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, or any 110 substantially similar agreement or arrangement that deputizes state or local personnel to perform 111 civil immigration enforcement functions. 112 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), an agency may petition the secretary of the executive 113 office of public safety and security for approval of a time-limited agreement that is restricted 114 solely to criminal public safety purposes and does not authorize civil immigration enforcement; 115 provided, that: (i) the agreement is limited to cooperation in the execution of criminal warrants or 116 criminal process issued by a court of competent jurisdiction; (ii) the petition demonstrates an 117 articulable, imminent public safety interest; (iii) the secretary issues a written determination after 118 public notice and comment and consultation with the attorney general; (iv) the attorney general 119 prepares and publishes, contemporaneously with the secretary’s written determination, a written

7 of 12 120 legal analysis assessing compliance with the requirements of this subsection and identifying 121 material legal risks, including potential federal preemption or intergovernmental immunity 122 concerns; (v) the approval sunsets not later than 12 months after issuance and may be renewed 123 only upon the same process; and (vi) the agency files quarterly public reports describing 124 implementation, excluding personally identifying information. 125 (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to: (i) prohibit or restrict the sending to, or 126 receiving from, federal immigration authorities of information regarding an individual’s 127 citizenship or immigration status as described in 8 U.S.C. § 1373; or (ii) limit cooperation with 128 federal authorities in the investigation or prosecution of criminal offenses, including compliance 129 with judicial warrants, subpoenas or court orders. 130 SECTION 4. Chapter 211B of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after 131 section 9B the following section:- 132 Section 9C. (a) The general court finds that fear of civil immigration enforcement at 133 courthouses chills reporting of crime and attendance at court proceedings, undermines access to 134 justice, and disrupts the orderly administration of the courts. This section is intended to protect 135 courthouse access and court operations while preserving compliance with criminal process and 136 judicial warrants. 137 (b) No person shall be subject to a civil immigration arrest while the person is present in 138 a courthouse, on courthouse grounds or in direct travel to or from a courthouse for the purpose of 139 attending, participating in or observing a court proceeding, unless the arrest is supported by a 140 judicial warrant or judge-signed court order. For purposes of this subsection, “direct travel” 141 means travel without unreasonable detour.

8 of 12 142 (c) No court officer or trial court employee shall: (i) arrest, detain or continue to hold any 143 person solely on the basis of civil immigration process; (ii) provide access to nonpublic 144 courthouse areas for the purpose of a civil immigration arrest absent a judicial warrant or judge- 145 signed court order; or (iii) initiate communication with a federal immigration authority for the 146 purpose of facilitating a civil immigration arrest. 147 (d) Court officers and court personnel shall not provide access to any nonpublic 148 courthouse area for the purpose of executing a judicial warrant or judge-signed court order 149 described in subsection (b) unless the requesting officer presents credentials and the warrant or 150 order to the court administrator or designee. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 151 require court personnel to assist with a civil immigration arrest. 152 (e) To the extent practicable, the executive office of the trial court shall compile and 153 publish a quarterly public report, based on enforcement actions observed by court officers or 154 reported to the trial court, that includes: (i) the number of known immigration-related 155 enforcement actions occurring in courthouses or on courthouse grounds; (ii) whether the 156 enforcement action was supported by a judicial warrant or judge-signed court order; (iii) whether 157 access was sought to nonpublic areas; and (iv) the originating federal agency. The report shall 158 exclude personally identifying information of any litigant, witness or member of the public. 159 (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of the chief justice of 160 the trial court or the supreme judicial court to regulate courthouse operations and security. 161 SECTION 5. The General Laws are hereby amended by striking out chapter 258F and 162 inserting in place thereof the following chapter:- 163 CHAPTER 258F

9 of 12 164 CERTIFICATION FOR VICTIMS OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AND HUMAN 165 TRAFFICKING. 166 Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly 167 requires otherwise, have the following meanings: 168 “Certifying entity”, (i) any law enforcement agency; (ii) any district attorney or the 169 attorney general; (iii) the executive office of the trial court and the juvenile court department; 170 (iv) the department of children and families; (v) the executive office of labor and workforce 171 development and any agency within the secretariat with authority over wage and hour, workplace 172 safety, unemployment insurance or labor standards; (vi) the Massachusetts commission against 173 discrimination; and (vii) any other state or local agency designated by regulation of the secretary 174 of public safety and security in consultation with the attorney general. 175 “Qualifying criminal activity”, (i) criminal activity described in 8 U.S.C. § 176 1101(a)(15)(U)(iii) and severe forms of trafficking in persons described in 8 U.S.C. § 177 1101(a)(15)(T); and (ii) any offense under the laws of the commonwealth or a political 178 subdivision that is substantially similar. For purposes of determining whether a person is a victim 179 of qualifying criminal activity for certification, a certifying entity shall not require the filing of 180 criminal charges or a conviction. 181 For purposes of certification decisions under this chapter, allegations of wage theft, 182 workplace safety violations, housing violations or labor exploitation accompanied by threats of 183 deportation, intimidation or retaliation may constitute qualifying criminal activity where the 184 alleged conduct is reasonably consistent with extortion, coercion, involuntary servitude, peonage,

10 of 12 185 obstruction of justice, witness intimidation or other substantially similar offenses under state or 186 federal law. 187 “Helpful” or “helpfulness”, the meaning used in the applicable federal certification form, 188 and shall include being helpful in the past, currently being helpful or being likely to be helpful. 189 Section 2. Each certifying entity shall adopt, publish and maintain a written certification 190 policy consistent with this chapter. The policy shall, at minimum: (i) identify a designated 191 certifying official and an alternate; (ii) describe how requests may be submitted, including by 192 email, through counsel or through an authorized advocate; (iii) identify objective criteria used to 193 assess victimization and helpfulness consistent with federal certification forms; (iv) prohibit 194 consideration of the applicant’s immigration admissibility or eligibility beyond the 195 determinations required by the federal form; (v) prohibit any fee for processing a request; and 196 (vi) describe the entity’s internal review process for denials. 197 Section 3. (a) A certifying entity shall respond to a nonimmigrant status certification 198 request from a victim of qualifying criminal activity who intends to petition for a nonimmigrant 199 visa under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(U) or from a victim of severe forms of trafficking in persons 200 who intends to petition for a nonimmigrant visa under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(T) not later than 201 30 days after receiving the request. 202 (b) If the applicant, counsel or advocate certifies that the applicant is in federal removal 203 proceedings or has a scheduled immigration court hearing within 45 days, the certifying entity 204 shall respond not later than 10 business days after receiving the request, unless the certifying 205 entity provides a written explanation that extraordinary circumstances outside the control of the 206 certifying entity prevent compliance and states a projected response date.

11 of 12 207 (c) The certifying entity shall respond by: (i) completing and signing the applicable 208 federal certification form; (ii) issuing a written denial without prejudice that states the specific 209 reasons the request does not meet the requirements of the entity’s policy under section 2 and 210 identifies the internal review process; or (iii) issuing a written explanation of delay as provided 211 in this section. 212 Section 4. (a) A certifying entity shall establish a rebuttable presumption of helpfulness 213 for any victim who timely reports qualifying criminal activity and is willing to provide 214 information in a manner reasonably requested by the certifying entity. A certifying entity shall 215 not deny a request solely because: (i) no arrest was made; (ii) the case was closed; (iii) the victim 216 has a criminal record unrelated to the qualifying criminal activity; or (iv) the victim chose to 217 exercise constitutional rights. 218 (b) No state or local employee shall report or threaten to report an individual to a federal 219 immigration authority in retaliation for seeking certification, reporting a crime, participating in 220 an investigation, filing a labor or civil rights complaint or cooperating with a proceeding. 221 Section 5. The secretary of public safety and security, in consultation with the attorney 222 general, shall promulgate minimum standards for internal review processes, training and data 223 reporting under this chapter. Each certifying entity shall report annually to the secretary 224 aggregate data sufficient to evaluate compliance, including request volume, response times, 225 approvals, denials and reasons for denial, in a manner that protects victim confidentiality. 226 SECTION 6. The attorney general may enforce sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this act by a 227 civil action brought in the superior court for declaratory, injunctive and other equitable relief to 228 compel compliance or prevent violations.

12 of 12 229 In an action under this section, the court may issue emergency, long-term and permanent 230 orders, including but not limited to: (i) an order requiring immediate compliance with a statutory 231 duty; (ii) an order prohibiting conduct that violates this act; (iii) a compliance plan with 232 deadlines; and (iv) reasonable monitoring and periodic reporting to the court. 233 If the attorney general prevails, the court shall award the commonwealth its costs of 234 investigation and litigation, including reasonable attorneys’ fees. 235 Nothing in this act shall be construed to create a private right of action; provided, 236 however, that nothing herein shall limit any remedy otherwise available under law. 237 SECTION 7. Sections 1, 3, 4, and 6 shall take effect 90 days after the effective date of 238 this act. 239 SECTION 8. Section 2 shall take effect 180 days after the effective date of this act. 240 SECTION 9. Section 5 shall take effect 60 days after the effective date of this act.