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Healey says Massachusetts "not a sanctuary state," but law prevents police from enforcing ICE detainers

Massachusetts law prevents local police from enforcing ICE detainers
Massachusetts law prevents local police from enforcing ICE detainers 02:19

BOSTON - CBS News has obtained a Department of Justice memo directing employees across the country to step up enforcement of immigration law and investigate any future instances in which state or local officials might impede the Trump Administration's immigration enforcement policies.

"Officials here follow the law. We are not a sanctuary state," Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey told reporters when she was asked about new immigration policy from President Trump at a news conference Wednesday.

Healey emphasized that Massachusetts officials are willing and ready to help "when it comes to investigating, prosecuting, and holding accountable those who commit crimes in Massachusetts."

What is the law in Massachusetts?

However, that doesn't apply to undocumented immigrants who are not accused of any crimes. The law that guides immigration enforcement in Massachusetts is a 2017 Supreme Judicial Court case called Lunn v. Commonwealth. In it, the SJC decided that "Massachusetts law provides no authority for court officers to arrest and hold an individual because of a federal immigration detainer." 

The way this works in practice is that ICE will typically contact a local agency, asking them to either arrest or hold someone in jail for extra time after a criminal case has concluded, at which point they have served their sentence. "ICE is effectively asking local law enforcement to take on the role of holding someone for an unconstitutional period of time," explained Immigration Law Expert and Yale Law School Professor Dina Haynes.

The extra time is to give ICE officials time to get to the location and take the person to begin the deportation process. However, as explained above, Massachusetts law prohibits local law enforcement from doing that job of federal agents.

Ability to resist federal law enforcement

"States and cities do under the law, have the ability to resist federal law enforcement," Haynes explained. "They are not federal law enforcement, [immigration] is federal law enforcement's job, and that has been supported by the Supreme Court."

The Watertown Police Chief recent reaffirmed this reality to his community. It's not a protest of any administration – and not a new law, he explained. "Our role is to enforce local and state law, not federal law and that's what the federal agencies are there for," Chief Justin Hanrahan said. "We don't go around doing raids and checking peoples' papers, that's not part of what we do."

Hanrahan is also a lawyer and writes manuals for police departments to comply with the law set forth by the courts. 

He wants Watertown residents to know they can comfortably report crimes or issues to his department. "I want them to feel comfortable and safe coming to us if there's a problem. I don't want them to be afraid to report if they are the victim of a crime that we are going to send them back to whatever country they came from," he said.

When he receives requests from ICE – which are voluntary requests – "we'll say we arrested them, they're eligible for bail, will bring them to court and then that's as far as our role is and then whatever the federal agencies do at that point, that's what they do," he explained.

Attorney Haynes said that if the Trump administration doubles down and attempts to retaliate against states that don't deputize local law enforcement for immigration reasons, the administration could face lawsuits from a number of U.S. states.

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