Top police officials in Massachusetts have backed a revised bill that would limit the cooperation that local and state police officers could give to federal immigration officers. In a statement, the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association said that the redrafted bill would allow for a better balance of building and improving trust in communities, while also enhancing public safety in the state.
The Safe Communities Act was filed when President Donald Trump promised a crackdown on undocumented immigrants and sponsored by Senator, Jamie Eldridge, and Representative, Juana Matias with the intention of banning all cooperation between state and local police officers and federal immigration officers. The new language enables law enforcement officers to detain individuals for up to six hours if they are on an ICE detainer and have prior serious criminal convictions, such as sexual assault, drug trafficking, or domestic violence.
The bill would also allow the Department of Corrections to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when serious and violent offenders are set for release from prison. But, County Sheriffs and local police chiefs would be prohibited from acting as though they were immigration enforcement agents.
On Thursday, Eldridge announced that members of the executive and legislative committees of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association had supported the bill, as had the Massachusetts Major City Police Chiefs Association. Law enforcement support increases the likelihood that the Legislature will act on the new bill.