Immigrants

We must protect and preserve the dignity and rights of our immigrant population across the Commonwealth while expanding access to resources so that whole communities can thrive, by enfranchising pre-citizen immigrants, providing in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants who graduate from a Massachusetts High School, affording the right to movement by allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver licenses, and above all limiting our collaboration with ICE with the future goal of abolishing ICE.

Rep. Connolly is proud to work with local partners Centro Presente, the Welcome Project, and statewide partner Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition.

In his first term, Rep. Connolly has proudly:

  • Co-sponsored H.3629 - An Act to protect the civil rights and safety of all Massachusetts residents, also known as the Safe Communities Act, ensuring due process for immigrants, prohibiting the federal government from deputizing local law enforcement to participate in Trump’s racist deportation machine, codifying the ban on ICE detainers, and prohibiting the establishment of a muslim registry. 
  • Voted to defeat amendment #346 to the FY19 budget which would have authorized state and local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws without a warrant.
  • Voted to defeat amendment #227 to the FY19 budget which would have restricted funding to sanctuary cities including Cambridge and Somerville.
  • Voted to defeat amendment #127 to this session's Criminal Justice Reform legislation. This amendment was based on Governor Baker's proposal to give local law enforcement the authority to hold people in custody based on a detainer request from ICE, overriding the SJC decision in Lunn case.
  • Co-sponsored H.388 - An Act enabling cities and towns to extend voting rights in municipal elections to certain noncitizens of the Commonwealth enabliing municipalities grant voting rights in local elections to immigrants on a path to citizenship.
  • Co-sponsored H.3033 - An Act relative to enforcing federal law prohibits state funding for federal 287g agreements.
  • Voted against the conference committee report for the FY19 state budget because it failed to include basic immigrant protections that were previously included in the state Senate's version of the budget.

Where Rep. Connolly is talking about this: