Governor Maura Healey signed the PROTECT Act, Stat. 2026, c. 163, on August 5, 2026. The law prohibits civil arrests, including those by federal immigration enforcement, on school grounds during operating hours without a judicial warrant or judicial order, according to a press release from the governor's office. The enacted statute requires each school district, charter school, and educational collaborative in Massachusetts to adopt a written emergency response policy by September 1, 2026, or the first day of the 2026-2027 school year, whichever is earlier.
The Healey-Driscoll Administration, through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, released model policies and guidance for implementing the law. The guidance states that the protections of the law apply regardless of whether a school or program has completed its required policy.
Policy Requirements
The DESE model policy requires seven specific elements. Schools must designate a school-level and a district-level contact person to handle law enforcement interactions. They must establish procedures for contacting the school's attorney, for documenting interactions, and for notifying parents or guardians if an agent requests student access or information. The policy also requires a plan to notify the school community after any confirmed law enforcement presence on campus, a plan to update student emergency contacts to allow multiple contacts, and a plan to share procedures with students and families on the district website.
The model procedures specify steps for when immigration officers arrive without exigent circumstances. Staff should direct officers to wait outside away from students and immediately notify the school-level contact person, who then notifies the district-level contact. The school-level contact must ask for officer identification and request to view any warrant or order. With attorney assistance, staff determine whether it is a valid judicial warrant or judicial order. If only an administrative warrant is presented, officers are informed they are not authorized to conduct an arrest on school grounds and are asked to leave, according to district procedures.
If officers make an arrest or attempt enforcement in violation of the law, the school is directed to report the event to the Attorney General's Office Civil Rights Division. Staff are instructed not to physically interfere with officers, and bystanders may openly videorecord interactions, according to the same procedures.
The PROTECT Act also restricts the disclosure of student information. Schools cannot share personally identifiable student data with third parties, including ICE agents, without specific informed written consent of a parent or guardian, a judicial warrant, a judicial order, or a subpoena, except in a health or safety emergency. When faced with an impermissible request, schools are told to respond that they can neither confirm nor deny the student's personally identifiable information, according to guidance from the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General.
Comparison with California's AB 495
Massachusetts is not the first state to enact such requirements. California's AB 495, the Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025, requires local educational agencies to update their policies to conform with the state attorney general's model by March 1, 2026, according to a bulletin from the California Office of the Attorney General. The California law prohibits allowing immigration enforcement officers into nonpublic areas of school sites without a valid judicial warrant, judicial subpoena, or court order, and prohibits disclosure of student or family information without such judicial authorization or written parental consent. It also requires parental notification, staff training, designation of an immigrant affairs liaison, and posting of a know-your-rights checklist.
California's model policies for TK-12 schools, first issued in 2018 and updated in December 2024 and again in December 2025, provide detailed procedures for responding to on-campus immigration enforcement requests. The California law also amended family code and probate code provisions related to caregiver affidavits and joint guardianship in cases of deportation or immigration enforcement, which parallels the PROTECT Act's standby guardianship provisions, according to the California attorney general.