Back in January, in the face of Trump's threats to cut funding to her state because of its 'sanctuary state' policies, insufferable Massachusetts governor Maura Healey doubled down on the claim that just because it looked like sanctuary state stuff that MA was doing, it didn't MEAN MA WAS a sanctuary state, because it wasn't.
So there.
Gov. Maura Healey continues to claim Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state as she doubled down on her criticism of ICE, launching into a rant against the agency, the White House and even individual ICE agents.
Healey went on a lengthy, profane rant against ICE, President Trump and Congressional Republicans while taking questions from the press after presenting her FY27 budget recommendation on Wednesday.
The Herald asked Healey if the Bay State is turning into a so-called sanctuary state — citing her increasing criticism and calls for ICE to leave Massachusetts, combined with Boston Police ignoring 100% of ICE detainer requests last year.
“Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state. I’ve said this time and time again. People can buy in and continue with the absolute bull**** rhetoric out of the Trump administration on this. You know they have no respect for cities and states. They don’t respect law enforcement because they’ve got this group of rogue individuals who I guess take in the bounty of $50K,” Healey said, before going on to call on ICE leadership and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to step down, citing the fatal ICE involved shootings that resulted in the death of nurse Alex Pretti and activist Renee Good.
And, to a certain degree, the governor is correct in spite of her and her fellow progressive Democrats' (like Boston Mayor Michelle Wu) rabidly anti-ICE, anti-Trump rhetoric and local resistance actions. The 'state' of Massachusetts has so far remained compliant with one aspect of immigration enforcement efforts and have been cooperating this entire time with ICE, much to the gnashing-toothed frustration of anti-ICE advocates.
One lefty rag actually wailed about the state being the only blue one to maintain its ICE contract for prisoner deportations. Other MA local police jurisdictions and sheriffs' departments have all dropped their federal 287(g) cooperation agreements, with the last county program dying in 2023 as Cape Cod's sheriff flipped to a Democrat, although most do routinely cooperate with federal immigration authorities, sometimes even proactively. As one sheriff said, it's in the interest of public safety.
Inside ICE’s Only Contract with a Blue State
As part of a 287(g) contract between state officials and ICE, Massachusetts continues to release prisoners into deportation—even as state lawmakers look to ban other forms of ICE collaboration.
...It was no coincidence that ICE was waiting for Perez on the day of his release. The Massachusetts Department of Correction, which had custody of him for all those decades, formally partners with ICE to transfer people who have finished their sentences: Since 2007, the state prison system has participated in the federal 287(g) program and, as part of its contract, regularly sends people exiting Massachusetts prisons directly into ICE custody.
In fact, Massachusetts is the only state that voted against Donald Trump in 2024, and where the governor is a Democrat, where a state agency is contracting with the 287(g) program. It’s also the only state where Democrats fully control the state government that has such an agreement.
Virginia shared the distinction until last week, when new Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger announced she is withdrawing Virginia state agencies, including the state’s DOC, from the 287(g) contracts she inherited from her Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, a Democrat, also has the authority to decide if her state’s DOC remains in the ICE program. She has defended and preserved the 287(g) agreement, even as she otherwise seeks to limit ICE activity in the state. Her office has not responded to my repeated calls and emails about the state’s participation in the program.
This has only emboldened the uber woke MA legislature, which, in January, introduced another one of these nonsensical, unconstitutional 'ICE Can't Do That Here' bills.
...Late last month, members of the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus stood united behind a lectern at the statehouse for a press conference announcing their signature immigrant rights bill of this legislative session: “An Act Promoting Rule of Law, Oversight, Trust, and Equal Constitutional Treatment”—P.R.O.T.E.C.T. Act for short.
This bill contains a lot, including provisions to limit ICE arrests in Massachusetts courthouses and to force any ICE or Customs and Border Protection officer to disclose that work if they apply for a job in law enforcement in the state. It also proposes to ban local and state agencies from joining the 287(g) program—but it makes an exception for the Massachusetts DOC.
The only agency exempted and allowed to work with ICE in the bill is the MA Department of Corrections (DOC). So this would change nothing and technically cover the state's blue behind with a Kleenex-sized patch from punitive threats of funding penalties.
By the end of March, both legislative houses had passed their versions and are now working on meshing them together while advocates begin the work of selling the PROTECT Act to the general public.
IN LATE MARCH, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the PROTECT Act by an overwhelming majority to strengthen protections for immigrants across the state. Earlier this month, the Senate passed a version of the bill. It will now be up to a House-Senate conference to iron out differences between the two versions.
In light of a new report showing that Massachusetts law enforcement frequently cooperates with federal immigration authorities, it is more urgent than ever for the Legislature to get the bill over the finish line this session and for Gov. Healey to sign it.
The PROTECT Act enshrines basic protections for immigrants and their families. It requires that detained individuals be notified of their right to counsel and their right to decline conversations with federal authorities until they have an attorney. It ensures that courthouses are safe zones, where immigrants can show up for civil hearings without fear of being ensnared by enforcement, even when they have the lawful right to be here and are contesting something as minor as a broken headlight. And it makes it illegal for police officers to inquire about immigration status, unless required by law or judicial warrant.
These provisions are representative of what the full legislation accomplishes: commonsense protections for immigrants in our state. But sanctuary policies like the PROTECT Act have been the subject of public rancor and misunderstanding over the past year. These debates, though, often miss what sanctuary policies do – and what they do not.
SANCTUARY POLICIES ARE MISUNDERSTOOD
I do not believe that this line of reasoning is going to be as effective as immigration advocates believe it is.
'Let us explain to you why protecting the illegals here is a good thing,' is a non-starter, even in Massachusetts.
One of the Republican candidates for governor is already making opposition to the statute nearing completion part of his stump speech.
Republican Governor candidate Mike Minogue is putting illegal immigration at the center of his pitch to voters, taking aim this week at a Beacon Hill sanctuary policy that would shield illegal immigrants from federal arrests at schools, hospitals, churches and courthouses."As Governor, I will uphold the law and keep communities safe," Minogue wrote on X Monday. "I will put our people first."
'I will uphold the law': GOP Governor candidate Mike Minogue slams law shielding illegal immigrants from ICE in schools, hospitals, courthouses and churcheshttps://t.co/YsyfCvC6qx
— Mass Daily News (@MassDailyNews) May 21, 2026
There is also some well-spoken opposition arising from citizens in MA communities, who are watching as their town and county leaders begin to ape the woke and progressive policies of the bigger cities, and are voting to adopt similar anti-ICE, pro-illegal alien, virtue-signaling language.
Barnstable is one of the communities on Cape Cod.
In case you haven’t had your fill of political absurdity lately, the Barnstable County Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates is meeting today (May 20) at 4:00 One of the agenda items would place even more restrictions on cooperation with ICE. YOUR safety is not their priority.…
— Cape Cod Concerned Citizens-Legal Citizens First! (@CapeCodCitizens) May 20, 2026
I mean, this Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates group is apparently already notorious for their agonizing over the appropriateness of time-honored rituals of public meetings being repeated during Zoom get-togethers.
🚨WATCH: Massachusetts delegates try to drop the Pledge of Allegiance from their committee meetings, with one calling it "a very awkward thing" to do over Zoom.
— Off The Press (@OffThePress1) May 19, 2026
The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates Committee on Governmental Affairs and Rules debated Monday night over… pic.twitter.com/EV4NtKHE2l
So it had to be a shock to the system to have a fellow stand up at the meeting for his few minutes of public speaking time, to emotionally and eloquently lambast their plans.
But my goodness. I can only think of two other instances* in my memory that rang so clearly with such beautifully expressed fervor.
The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates met yesterday to discuss an ordinance aimed at further restricting ICE operations on Cape Cod.
— Cape Cod Concerned Citizens-Legal Citizens First! (@CapeCodCitizens) May 21, 2026
This man said what millions of Americans are thinking but are too afraid to say out loud:
“I am not an uncompassionate individual. But my… pic.twitter.com/QzMBiRNKkQ
...“I am not an uncompassionate individual. But my generosity has been abused, and I am sick of it! I am sick of being treated as an indentured servant to foreign nationals in my country and in my community. And I don't give a damn whose feelings that hurts.”
There was a whole lot of pear-clutching afterward.
There are many people on his side.
Massachusetts citizens were never asked if they wanted their taxes to be used to house, feed, educate and give free Healthcare to illegal aliens. The Democrat totalitarian rule in Mass just did it all in secrecy. Anyone who questioned this was called "racist" or "xenophobic"
— Christine Dowd (@ChristineD81897) May 22, 2026
Sniffy AWFL noses were indeed moved out of joint.
Barnstable Karen shaking her head taking notes! Well said sir! pic.twitter.com/aujrklNPD4
— JP Anderson (@JPaulAnderson1) May 22, 2026
But he said it.
350,000 estimated illegals live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 2025, the state spent almost a billion dollars on its illegal population.
...The Healey administration spent $978 million in fiscal 2025 and $894 million in the prior year on the emergency shelter system and related services, according to state data.
The state has conveniently stopped reporting some of that spending data.
...Since July 1, the Healey administration stopped including key sections in biweekly reports that detailed in real-time how much taxpayers were paying for shelter services. A state law mandated that the administration report the real-time data only through fiscal 2025.
Beacon Hill lawmakers appear on track to again require the governor to provide the public with more shelter spending details.
In one week last November, ICE took over 1400 illegal alien criminals off Boston streets.
ICE and federal law enforcement partners apprehended more than 1,400 illegal aliens during a weeks-long immigration enforcement operation focusing on transnational organized crime, gangs and egregious illegal alien offenders throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During the surge operation Patriot 2.0, officers from ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston and ICE Homeland Security Investigations New England joined forces with partners from the FBI; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the DEA; the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest an astounding 1,406 illegal alien offenders from Sept. 4 to Sept. 30.
That man nailed it.
No one asked the citizens, and now they are basically indentured servants, working to maintain the lifestyle and upkeep of immigrant households that shouldn't be in their state to begin with.
Somewhere, another disgusted Karen wrinkles her nose.
*Beege NOTES: Both times had to do with gun control issues. One was Mark Robinson's appearance before the Greensboro City Council, and the other was a speech on the floor of the Virginia House of Delegates by then-delegate Nick Freitas.
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