Safe Communities Act
An Act to protect the civil rights and safety of all Massachusetts residents
ON THIS PAGE:
- About the bill
- Bill history
- Advocates
What this bill would do:
- Prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE
- Prohibits police from asking questions about immigration status
- Protects people of color from racial profiling by police
Why we need it:
For nearly 20 years, the federal government has leveraged our public safety resources to identify and deport immigrants. This bill would end state and local involvement in civil immigration enforcement, increasing immigrant access to court and police protection.
14
years in consideration by the legislature
7
times killed by the legislature
66
statewide organizations support the bill
147
regional organizations have endorsed the bill
The Logistics
- Prohibits contracts that foster relationships between local law enforcement and ICE, specifically in terms of agreements that deputize local law enforcement as federal immigration officials
- Protects access to due process and justice in courts
- Protect basic rights for individuals in custody
- Prohibits questioning about immigration status by police and court officials
Does your legislator support the Safe Communities Act?
Bill History
The legislature’s website makes it extremely difficult to track bills from session to session, so we have compiled the complete bill history here. Each time the bill is killed, it is highlighted in red text and the people or committee to blame are linked where possible.
194th Session: 2025-2026
April 2026: Sent to Study 04/13/2026
January 2026: Senate reporting date extended to Friday July 31, 2026
January 2026: House reporting date extended to Wednesday, March 18, 2026
November 2025: Hearing scheduled for 11/25/2025
February 2025: Referred to the committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
193rd Session: 2023-2024
December 2024:
February 2024:
February 2024:
February 2024:
October 2023:
January 2023:
192nd Session: 2021-2022
January 2023:
September 2021:
September 2021:
July 2021:
May 2021:
March 2021:
191st Session: 2019-2020
January 2021:
January 2020:
January 2020:
November 2019:
June 2019:
January 2019: Bill reintroduced as
190th Session: 2017-2018
June 2018: Sent to study by the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security (Study Order H.4587)
June 2017: Hearing held by Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
189th Session: 2015-2016
September 2016: S.1258 Sent to study by the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security (Study Order H.4611) + H.1228 sent to study by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary (Study Order H.4624)
February 2016: Hearing held for S.1258 by Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security
September 2015: Hearing held for H.1228 by Joint Committee on the Judiciary
188th Session: 2013-2014
June 2014: Sent to study by Joint Committee on the Judiciary, Study Order H.4218
July 2013: Hearing held by Joint Committee on the Judiciary
Advocacy Organizations
Our allies leading the fight for this bill
