The Overview

Heading to court, dropping your kids off at school, or seeing a doctor in Massachusetts now comes with a new legal shield against civil immigration arrests. Massachusetts' PROTECT Act bars civil immigration arrests without a judicial warrant at courthouses, schools, licensed child-care facilities and covered health-care providers. Massachusetts's An Act promoting rule of law, oversight, trust and equal constitutional treatment, H 5620 became law when Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed it Aug. 5. ​

The law follows a March 2025 incident in which federal immigration agents detained a Massachusetts defendant as he left court on the first day of his trial. A Boston Municipal Court judge later held an agent in contempt over the arrest. The law took effect immediately under an emergency preamble, but sections 7, 6, 12 and 15 were delayed: section 7 by 30 days, and sections 6, 12 and 15 by 90 days.

What the Law Does

State and local law enforcement may not ask about a person's immigration status or share nonpublic personal information with federal immigration authorities, and most agreements that would deputize local officers to carry out federal civil immigration enforcement are prohibited. A new state civil-rights cause of action lets a person whose constitutional rights are violated under color of law bring a suit for redress, with reasonable attorneys' fees available to an aggrieved person who wins.

Child-care programs must adopt policies that designate a contact person for civil law enforcement interactions and document those interactions, certain covered health-care providers must adopt policies that designate a contact person and set procedures for staff, and every school must maintain a written emergency response plan for such interactions. Correctional facilities must give detained individuals written notice of their right to counsel and their right to decline interviews, provide confidential attorney phone access and update custody records within six hours of any transfer.

The governor, working with the attorney general, must publish multilingual guidelines within 190 days of the August 5, 2026 signing, a deadline that falls on or around February 11, 2027. The Healey–Driscoll administration issued guidance documents for schools, courthouses, child-care programs and health-care facilities after the Aug. 5 signing, the Massachusetts Municipal Association reported.

Legislative Status

The House passed the conference report 137 to 21 on July 30, before sending the bill to the governor. The bill drew 95 cosponsors, including Rep. Marcus Vaughn (R), along with Rep. Judith García (D), Rep. Frank Moran (D), Rep. Carlos González (D), Rep. Manny Cruz (D) and Sen. Adam Gómez (D), among 90 others.

Gov. Healey said in a statement: "With the signing of the PROTECT Act today, Massachusetts reaffirms our values of respect, dignity, and justice for ALL our residents," according to Mass.gov. Liz Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, called it "a historic victory" that "solidifies a commitment to protecting immigrant communities, ensuring due process, and upholding fundamental civil rights," according to SEIU Local 509.

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