BOSTON — A State House hearing on a bill to ban ICE officers from making some civil arrests devolved into a partisan fight over protecting the public or illegal immigrants.

Lawmakers on the House Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security heard testimony Wednesday at a forum on the Protect Act (H. 5158), filed by the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, that would ban federal immigration officials from making civil arrests in Massachusetts courthouses, among other measures.

Representatives from Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s Office and some politicians, in supporting the bill, accused President Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown of being “predicated on actual white supremacy.”

“To anyone who still thinks that this kind of immigration enforcement this federal government is carrying out isn’t predicated on actual white supremacy and politicized fear mongering, you need to wake up,” said state Sen. Liz Miranda (D- 2nd Suffolk) in a tirade against ICE and individual ICE agents. “The secret police, mostly made up of people who couldn’t get a job anywhere else, is running around scooping up pregnant people, high schoolers on their way to volleyball practice.”

Officially titled An Act promoting rule of law, oversight, trust, and equal constitutional treatment (Protect), the legislation would ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from using “state or local resources for the primary purpose of facilitating a federal civil immigration enforcement action.” In addition, it would ban the expansion of future 287(g) agreements with ICE and would also ban Massachusetts police officers from providing information to federal agents on someone’s immigration status or the date they are to be released from custody.

“No person shall be subject to a civil immigration arrest while the person is present in a courthouse, on courthouse grounds or in direct travel to or from a courthouse for the purpose of attending, participating in or observing a court proceeding, unless the arrest is supported by a judicial warrant or judge-signed court order,” the legislation reads, also arguing that fear of federal immigration enforcement has lowered attendance at court proceedings and the number of reported crimes.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s Office accused ICE of using racial profiling in identifying who to arrest or detain while delivering testimony before the committee.

“Like many of you, we in the Attorney General’s office have been deeply alarmed by acts of dangerous and lawless abuses of power across the country. The President told us that ICE would keep people safe by targeting dangerous criminals. But in reality, the opposite has happened. ICE has made our communities less safe to indiscriminate arrests, racial profiling, detentions of innocent children, and violent and reckless enforcement tactics,” said Deputy Attorney General Abby Taylor, going on to admit that states cannot control federal immigration enforcement priorities or tactics.

“While states cannot pass legislation that directs the conduct of federal immigration officials, the Legislature can act to make sure that Massachusetts resources, institutions, and spaces are not co-opted and raised that are inconsistent with our Commonwealth’s values, constitutional guarantees, and the protections of our residents,” she said.

State Rep. Steve Xiarhos (R-5th Barnstable) responded to Taylor’s testimony, pointing out that she did not mention the dangerous and violent illegal immigrants ICE has arrested in Massachusetts and across the country.

“You didn’t mention arresting New Orleans rapists, and the people that are violent. And I think that we all agree they should be arrested and follow the law,” said Xiarhos, before asking the Deputy AG if she agrees that violent criminal illegal aliens should be arrested by ICE.

“I would agree that violent criminals should absolutely be held accountable. The question here on the table really is about civil immigration enforcement,” Taylor said in response. “And the vast, vast majority of civil immigration operations that have been seen in the Commonwealth and beyond since the beginning of the Trump administration has not been about violent criminals at all. It has been about people who committed no crimes or committed low-level offenses.”

But ICE has a well-documented catalog of the dangerous and violent illegal immigrants the agency has taken off Massachusetts streets. Just this week, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons shared information on some of the 167 illegal immigrants that Boston Police ignored detainer requests for.

One of those illegal immigrants, Christhofer Figuereo Cuello, 22, of the Dominican Republic, was arrested for assault and battery after Boston Police arrested him and four others for attacking a 25-year-old woman in the middle of Columbia Rd. in Dorchester back in February. A police report obtained by the Herald shows Cuello and his co-defendants allegedly cut off the victim in their vehicle, causing her to slam on the brakes and tap the back of their car.

“The victim stated Suspect #1 got out of the driver’s side of the vehicle and started yelling at her. Subsequently, Suspect #2 got out of the front passenger side and walked over to the victim’s driver’s door, attempting to open her door. The victim stated that she and the suspects got into a verbal dispute that turned physical when suspect #2 began hitting her in the face,” the Boston Police report, dated Feb. 13 reads. “The victim stated that suspect #1 and another unidentified individual began jumping on her. The victim stated that the fight broke up once the State Trooper arrived on scene.”

Earlier this year, Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order prohibiting any new 287(g) agreements in Massachusetts. The executive order also bans federal agents from making civil arrests in non-public parts of state buildings.

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