Late last year, voters received mailers from the Mass Fiscal Alliance directly attacking the Safe Communities Act (S.1305). These mailers were misleading, inaccurate, and solely designed to provoke backlash against the Safe Communities Act and the Commonwealth’s undocumented immigrant population.
In light of these deceitful and deeply disturbing mailers, I felt the need to clear up any confusion with regards to the intent of and provisions included in the Safe Communities Act. First and foremost, nothing in the Act offers protection or immunity to criminals. This is perhaps the biggest misconception about the bill and cannot be overstated. Instead of providing “sanctuary” to criminals as many have wrongfully argued, the bill instead explicitly permits police to arrest or detain a person in the course of a criminal investigation or prosecution when supported by probable cause that the person has committed a crime.