(BOSTON—7/29/2026) Today, Senator Cindy F. Friedman, Chair of the Senate Committee on Steering and Policy, and Representative Daniel Cahill, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, issued the following statement:
“As the co-chairs of the conference committee appointed to reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of H.5316/S.3086, An Act promoting rule of law, oversight, trust and equal constitutional treatment—the PROTECT Act—we are happy to share that we have reached an agreement on legislation that will make Massachusetts’ immigrant protections among the strongest in the nation.
Earlier this month, we witnessed yet another senseless loss of innocent life as a result of the Trump Administration’s reckless immigration enforcement policies. And now, immigrants in our communities are even more vulnerable with this week’s termination of the Temporary Protected Status designation for several countries. It is clear that Massachusetts is not immune from the fear and chaos these policies are designed to inflict.
For months, the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus listened and worked with our immigrant communities impacted by federal immigration policies to draft and introduce the PROTECT Act. This conference report represents a collaborative effort that offers avenues and delivers tools for the Commonwealth to provide protections for our residents— specifically at sensitive locations including courthouses, schools, health care facilities, and childcare centers. The language also affirms and expands upon a Supreme Judicial Court opinion clarifying that there is no role for our state and local law enforcement in federal civil immigration enforcement. The bill would also provide victims of unjustified actions by federal immigration agents to sue in state court when their constitutional rights have been violated.
We believe that all Massachusetts residents deserve equal protection under both the United States Constitution and Massachusetts Constitution, regardless of where they were born or their color, creed, or immigration status. As state legislators, we swore an oath to protect and defend these Constitutions and therefore must do everything we can to ensure our constituents have access to the rights enshrined within them.
As we watch what is happening around our nation, it is critical in this time that we defend and protect the residents of the Commonwealth. The conference committee will file this report later today, and it is our hope that the House and Senate will vote to send this bill to the Governor’s desk later this week.”
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Additional information can be found at cindyfriedman.org/2526bills/PROTECT