State official announces executive order, legislation to limit ICE access to schools and state buildings

An unidentified speaker announced an executive order and the filing of legislation intended to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of schools, day cares, childcare centers, churches, hospitals, health clinics and courthouses in Massachusetts, and said the order takes effect immediately.

The speaker said, "I'm signing an executive order today to protect our state and state resources from ICE," and described multiple specific prohibitions included in the order. They said the order would bar ICE from making "civil arrests in non public spaces of state buildings" and that "We're not allowing ICE into these spaces." The speaker also said the order prohibits the "use of state property for staging immigration enforcement activities." Finally, the speaker said state agencies would be barred from entering into any new "287 g agreements" unless there is "a clear and imminent public safety need."

The announcement framed the actions as protections for immigrant communities and for public institutions. "We're standing up for our immigrant communities who are a part of the fabric of our communities," the speaker said, and added the measures were meant to protect "public safety and for education and health care and the ability of people to freely practice their faith." The speaker described the steps as part of "the legacy of freedom here in Massachusetts."

The immediate administrative action (the executive order) and the filing of legislation were presented together; the speaker emphasized the order would take effect without delay. The transcript does not provide further details on enforcement mechanisms, exemptions, or how the state will handle requests from federal authorities in practice. The speaker did not identify themselves by name in the provided remarks.

The actions named in the announcement are: issuance of an executive order limiting ICE activities in specified state-owned or -operated spaces and the filing of legislation to codify protections for those locations. The speaker characterized the steps as defenses of civil liberties and community safety; no legislative text or implementation guidance was included in the remarks.