BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey has filed a $411.3 million supplemental budget she's calling an emergency, asking legislators to pass it by April 30. Tucked inside 22 sections of appropriations for health insurance shortfalls, prison funding gaps, and welfare staffing are provisions that would effectively ban ICE from operating in schools, daycares, hospitals, courthouses, and churches across Massachusetts.
The bill, H.5050, was filed January 29 and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The money Massachusetts actually needs
The bulk of the spending addresses real shortfalls that have nothing to do with immigration:
- $300 million for the Group Insurance Commission, driven by higher-than-expected health costs and pharmaceutical expenses for state employees
- $41.7 million for Department of Transitional Assistance caseworkers administering benefits programs
- $31 million for the Department of Correction, which is short on funds after healthcare contract costs blew past the FY26 budget
- $25 million for judgments and settlements
- $12.3 million for public counsel services, tied to overloaded caseloads
- $500,000 for a healthcare affordability working group
These are the kinds of line items that pass with bipartisan support. State workers need health insurance. Prisons need to keep the lights on. Courts need public defenders.
But Healey didn't file a clean spending bill. She attached a comprehensive anti-ICE framework that turns every school, daycare, hospital, church, and courthouse in the state into a zone where federal immigration agents need a judicial warrant just to walk in the door.
What the anti-ICE sections actually do
Schools (Section 8): ICE agents cannot enter school grounds for civil immigration enforcement without both a judicial warrant AND prior approval from the superintendent. Even with a warrant, agents are "limited to areas where students are not present." Every school district must adopt a formal policy for dealing with ICE, including designated contact persons and documentation procedures.
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Daycares and childcare (Section 5): The same restrictions apply to licensed childcare centers, family childcare homes, and after-school programs. Daycare directors become the gatekeepers. ICE cannot enter without a warrant and the director's personal approval.
Hospitals and healthcare (Section 9): ICE is banned from "nonpublic areas" of hospitals, community health centers, clinics, nursing homes, and substance abuse treatment programs without a judicial warrant. Healthcare providers must designate which areas are off-limits and adopt formal anti-ICE policies.
Courthouses (Section 15): ICE agents cannot make civil arrests in any Massachusetts courthouse unless they present documentation to a designated judge. Violations constitute contempt of court. The attorney general is authorized to enforce this through lawsuits. An annual report tracking every federal warrant presented to a state court must be published.
Churches (Section 16): Anyone attending a religious service at any place of worship is "privileged from civil arrest." This covers churches, synagogues, mosques, and any rented space used for worship.
Pre-arranged guardianship (Sections 12-14): Parents can pre-designate guardians for their children in case of deportation, detention, or "adverse immigration action."
National Guard ban (Section 7): No military force from another state can enter Massachusetts "for the purpose of doing military duty" without the governor's permission.
Government employee indemnification (Section 17): Public employees who resist federal enforcement are indemnified up to $1 million for legal fees, damages, and settlements. With approval from the governor and AG, that cap can be exceeded.
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The strategy
By packaging immigration restrictions inside a must-pass spending bill, Healey forces legislators into an all-or-nothing vote. Voting against the anti-ICE provisions means voting against $300 million in health insurance funding for state workers and $31 million to keep prisons running.
It's a familiar tactic on Beacon Hill, but the scope is unusual. The immigration sections alone run 18 of the bill's 22 sections. The spending is the sidecar. The anti-ICE framework is the vehicle.
Healey's accompanying letter to the legislature describes ICE operations as "increasingly lawless, violent, and even deadly" and accuses the Trump administration of "ignoring constitutional rights and court orders, arresting and detaining people without due process or justification, and intimidating citizens and communities."
She writes that ICE has left people "afraid to send their children to school and daycare, afraid to go to church or to doctor's appointments, afraid to report crimes or testify in court."
The governor has already directed colleges to post signs keeping ICE off campus and demanded airlines stop cooperating with deportation flights. H.5050 would make many of those directives law.
Meanwhile, the same administration that said there was nothing left for Massachusetts families after spending nearly $2 billion on migrant shelters is now asking for $411 million more, with most of the legislative text focused not on the communities that need the money, but on keeping federal agents away from people who are here illegally.
The bill is currently before the House Committee on Ways and Means.
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