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Representative urges support for bill to establish 'sensitive places' protections for immigrants (Project 331)
Summary
Representative Márquez Lebrón urged colleagues to back Proyecto de la Cámara 331, introduced by Edishaal Bonnier at the request of the ACLU of Puerto Rico, to define and protect sensitive places (hospitals, schools, shelters and community centers) from certain interactions with federal immigration authorities.
Representative Márquez Lebrón used his initial turn on Feb. 20, 2025, to urge colleagues to support Proyecto de la Cámara 331, a bill he said had been requested by the Puerto Rico chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. He described the measure as establishing a public-policy framework to “proteger a lugares considerados como sensibles por su importancia en el ejercicio de derechos fundamentales.”
Márquez Lebrón said the bill would clarify and standardize parameters governing interactions between Puerto Rican government personnel and federal immigration authorities, and that its scope is limited to policy measures within the island’s competence. He listed categories the bill would protect, including hospitals, schools, health facilities, community centers and locations where people exercise fundamental rights, and said the policy would aim to ensure those seeking services can be attended regardless of immigration status.
“This ley establece los hospitales, las escuelas, las facilidades de salud... los espacios donde se manifieste las personas, los centros comunitarios como lugares protegidos bajo el gobierno de Puerto Rico,” Márquez Lebrón said on the floor. He also said a group of colleagues had already joined as co-sponsors and urged further support.
The transcript records floor advocacy for the bill and a request for colleagues’ backing; it does not record a formal referral, committee action or a vote on Proyecto 331 during this session.
