Yawu Miller, “Governor advances legislation, executive order to curb ICE,” Flipside News, February 2, 2026.
“The Black and Latino Caucus has clearly put in a lot of work in terms of stakeholder engagement,” said Progressive Massachusetts Policy Director Jonathan Cohn. “They enter the space with a lot of political capital and legitimacy.”
Yawu Miller, “Black and Latino Caucus pushes immigration reform legislation,” Flipside News, January 29, 2026.
“I would like to believe that with the shift in public opinion on immigration, now is the moment for the Legislature to take action,” said Progressive Massachusetts Policy Director Jonathan Cohn. “There will never be a better time to get this passed.”
As ICE agents shoot, kill, and execute people in Minnesota, the people in Massachusetts stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota:ICE out of Minnesota, ICE out of MA, and ICE out from all of our communities.
Join Indivisible Mass Coalition, Progressive Mass, ACLU-MA, MIRA, Brazilian Center, and Field First this Thursday, January 29 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at the MA State House to talk with your legislators and demand action now.
RSVP here.
You can also join a prep webinar tomorrow, Wednesday January 28 at 7:00 pm to get talking points to help facilitate a productive conversation with your legislator.
Register for the webinar here.
Can’t join in person? You can still take action.
Commonwealth Beacon Staff, “‘No doubt it may get worse before it gets better’ — Breaking down the 2026 State of the Commonwealth.,” CommonWealth Beacon, January 26, 2026.
Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, said after the speech that “the governor offered nothing. Let’s be clear: reining in ICE violence is a kitchen table [matter], as there is no such thing as affordability when families are being broken apart and workers are being kidnapped on the way to work.”
The tragic murder of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis underscores what has long been clear: ICE agents make communities less safe.
ICE has been terrorizing communities across Massachusetts, breaking up families and breaking the law.
But MA lags behind other blue states in taking meaningful action to rein in police collaboration with ICE and protect immigrant communities.
Beacon Hill could pass legislation RIGHT NOW to change that. That’s why we’ve been working with the Protect Massachusetts Communities coalition to advance legislation based on the following three principles:
(1) Don’t assist ICE.
Massachusetts law enforcement must never assist ICE in making civil immigration arrests (taking people into custody when no crime has been committed) or ask members of the public about their immigration status.
(2) Don’t turn police into ICE agents.
ICE is pressuring and incentivizing local police departments to sign up for its 287(g) program, which turns street-level officers into ICE agents. They are even offering bounty-style bonuses for police forces that bring in high rates of targeted residents. Massachusetts should prevent this from happening within our borders.
(3) Fund legal help to fight deportations.
Immigrants are five times more likely to win relief from deportation if they have representation, and detained immigrants with an attorney are ten times more likely to win relief than those without.
Key bills before the Legislature can advance these reforms, such as the Safe Communities Act (H.2580/S.1681), the Dignity Not Deportations Act (H.1588/S.1122), and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act (H.1954/S.1127).
And after you do, can you think of a few friends to email as well?
📞📞If you are able to make a phone call, call. Calls have a bigger impact than emails. Find your state legislators’ phone numbers here.
But emailing is also important. ✉️✉️ Send your state legislators an email here.
Immigrants with work authorization, temporary protected status and other legal permissions—including union members—are being threatened and/or detained, along with other Massachusetts residents, in the federal administration’s vicious campaign of mass deportation.
That’s why we’re joining allies across the Commonwealth for a rally and speakout in support of immigrants’ rights this Thursday at 12:30 pm in Boston City Hall Plaza.
Can’t make it? You can still take action.
Last week, the Legislature held hearings on key bills to protect the civil rights and safety of everyone in the Commonwealth. Help build momentum by writing to your legislators in support of the Protecting Massachusetts Communities Coalition’s three priority protections: (1) Don’t collaborate with ICE, (2) Don’t let police be ICE agents, and (3) Fund legal aid.
If you’ve already emailed recently, take a moment to call. Find your legislators’ phone numbers here. In solidarity,
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Chair Edwards, Chair Day, and Members of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary:
Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. We urge you to give a favorable report to S.1122/H.1588: An Act relative to immigration detention and collaboration agreements and S.1127/H.1954: An Act ensuring access to equitable representation in immigration proceedings.
This Thanksgiving, families will be gathering across Massachusetts. But at many tables, there will be missing chairs due to the kidnapping of our immigrant friends and neighbors by ICE agents.
Since Trump took office in January, ICE has escalated its activities in Massachusetts, terrorizing immigrant communities. ICE arrests have gone up by more than 250% since last year, driven by their targeting of individuals without criminal records. ICE has brutalized children, torn families apart, and engaged in rampant racial profiling. With Congress approving $170 billion to expand deportations, this will only get worse.
Our immigrant communities are helping to keep our communities healthy, they are innovating and educating, and they are helping us build a better future for all of us. We need to do right by them.
Immigrants’ rights advocates from across the Commonwealth our aligned on what steps that you can take as a Legislature to protect communities:
Massachusetts should follow the steps of seven other states and prohibit any new 287(g) agreements. These agreements, in which state and local police are deputized as federal immigration agents, threaten public safety by diminishing trust, overburdening public financial and managerial capacity, distracting from real threats to public safety, and breaking apart communities.
It’s simple: local law enforcement should be focused on keeping communities safe and preventing and investigating crime. Getting involved with immigration raids and arrests diverts time, money, and resources from this goal and undermines the trust on which public safety depends.
If people fear that interacting with law enforcement could lead to the deportation of them or their loved ones, they will not feel comfortable doing so. This means that incidents of domestic violence, wage theft, and other abuses will go unreported, and communities will be less safe.
Access to counsel matters: detained immigrants with a lawyer are 10 times more likely to win their case than those without. Shockingly, a majority of immigrants with pending cases in MA are navigating their cases without a lawyer.
This bill would remedy that and build into statute an important step that your chambers took in the FY 2026 budget. Similar programs already exist in California, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Washington.
The Trump administration is creating never-ending, everyday crises for so many of our residents. Communities across the Commonwealth need you to lead.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
Tuesday, November 25, 2025
Chair Cronin, Chair Cahill, and Members of the Joint Committee on Public Safety:
Progressive Massachusetts is a statewide, multi-issue, grassroots membership organization focused on fighting for policy that would make our Commonwealth more equitable, just, sustainable, and democratic. We urge you to give a favorable report to H.2580 / S.1681, An Act To Protect The Civil Rights And Safety Of All Massachusetts Residents.
This Thanksgiving, families will be gathering across Massachusetts. But at many tables, there will be missing chairs due to the kidnapping of our immigrant friends and neighbors by ICE agents.
Since Trump took office in January, ICE has escalated its activities in Massachusetts, terrorizing immigrant communities. ICE arrests have gone up by more than 250% since last year, driven by their targeting of individuals without criminal records. ICE has brutalized children, torn families apart, and engaged in rampant racial profiling. With Congress approving $170 billion to expand deportations, this will only get worse.
Our immigrant communities are helping to keep our communities healthy, they are innovating and educating, and they are helping us build a better future for all of us. We need to do right by them.
Immigrants’ rights advocates from across the Commonwealth our aligned on what steps that you can take as a Legislature to protect communities:
Massachusetts should follow the steps of seven other states and prohibit any new 287(g) agreements. These agreements, in which state and local police are deputized as federal immigration agents, threaten public safety by diminishing trust, overburdening public financial and managerial capacity, distracting from real threats to public safety, and breaking apart communities.
It’s simple: local law enforcement should be focused on keeping communities safe and preventing and investigating crime. Getting involved with immigration raids and arrests diverts time, money, and resources from this goal and undermines the trust on which public safety depends.
If people fear that interacting with law enforcement could lead to the deportation of them or their loved ones, they will not feel comfortable doing so. This means that incidents of domestic violence, wage theft, and other abuses will go unreported, and communities will be less safe.
The Trump administration is creating never-ending, everyday crises for so many of our residents. Communities across the Commonwealth need you to lead.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Cohn
Policy Director
Progressive Massachusetts
This Thanksgiving, families will be gathering across Massachusetts. But at many tables, there will be missing chairs due to the kidnapping of our immigrant friends and neighbors by ICE agents.
Federal immigration agents have been terrorizing communities across Massachusetts in service of Donald Trump’s xenophobic, hateful agenda. Families are torn apart, workplaces stripped of employees, and documented immigrants have feared their status will be revoked. Massachusetts can and must take action to better protect our communities.
Three key pro-immigrants’ rights bills will have hearings tomorrow:
First, take a moment to email your state rep and state senator in support of these bills:
Second, if you’ve already emailed recently, take a moment to call. Find your legislators’ phone numbers here.
And third, join us at the State House tomorrow for a rally and the hearings for these bills.
Protect Massachusetts Communities | Pre-Hearing Rally
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Massachusetts State House | Room 428
The Dignity Not Deportations bill and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act will have hearings at 10 am in Room A2. Information here.
The Safe Communities Act will have a hearing at 11:30 am in Gardner Auditorium. Information here.
If you are unable to attend in person, you may log into the livestream of the hearing at the Massachusetts Legislature website.
Federal immigration agents have been terrorizing communities across Massachusetts in service of Donald Trump’s xenophobic, hateful agenda. Families are torn apart, workplaces stripped of employees, and documented immigrants have feared their status will be revoked. Massachusetts can and must take action to better protect our communities.
Three key pro-immigrant bills will have hearings next week:
Join us at the State House next Tuesday for a rally and the hearings fo rthese bills.
Protect Massachusetts Communities | Pre-Hearing Rally
Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Massachusetts State House | Room 428
The Dignity Not Deportations bill and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act will have hearings at 10 am in Room A2. Information here.
The Safe Communities Act will have a hearing at 11:30 am in Gardner Auditorium. Information here.
If you are unable to attend in person, you may log into the livestream of the hearing at the Massachusetts Legislature website.