Inside the push to get to ‘yes’ on the House bill freezing out ICE in Mass. | Bay State Briefing

John L. Micek

Mon, March 23, 2026 at 12:10 PM UTC

10 min read

Good Monday morning, everyone.

When state Rep. Andy Vargas thinks about the months-long slog that led to the massive immigrants' rights bill that's now making its way through the Legislature, he remembers the tough conversations that had to be had. He also recalls the hard questions that had to be answered before they could even write a word of policy.

One of the big ones? Determining just how aggressive the state could be in countering the hardball tactics of the Republican Trump administration without exceeding its authority — and whether the end product could withstand court challenges from the feds.

The other: Figuring out how to craft a bill that kept both immigrants' rights advocates and law enforcement onside, Vargas, D-3rd Essex, said last week.

There were "hard questions and honest disagreements," Vargas, the chairperson of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, said.

Work began last summer on a bill that guarantees due process for immigrants and severely restricts how local law enforcement can interact with federal immigration agents.

"We were guided by immigrant families in our districts, by workers afraid to speak up, by victims afraid to seek justice, by parents afraid to live their daily lives," Vargas, a Haverhill native who's the first Latino elected to represent his House district, said.

The bill, backed by the Black and Latino Caucus and now known as the PROTECT Act , began advancing through the House last week, with a floor vote expected in the next "several weeks," senior lawmakers said during a news conference at the State House.

State House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, speaks during a news conference at the State House on Thursday, March 19, 2026.John L. Micek/MassLive

That cadre of lawmakers "came up with a plan that we felt was really worthy of further investment," state House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, said, laying out a process that first involved wrangling "a couple of chairmen who were actively working on some legislation around the issues."

Those lawmakers — namely Vargas and state Rep. Carlos González, D-10th Hampden, one of the chamber's criminal justice experts — were 'enlisted to ... do a fact-finding mission and talk to the people who are directly involved in the issue that was ripping across our front pages, scaring the hell out of most of us," Mariano said.

Those close to the process "worked incredibly hard to facilitate meetings, to get people involved, to get people in a room and listen to ideas, pick out the best and present us with what we think is a roadmap to improve the situation," Mariano said.

State Rep. Dan Cahill, D-10th Essex, said the legislation now before the chamber provides "clear guidance for our law enforcement agencies on how they are to interact and deal with ICE and the civil immigration process."

"We protect Massachusetts due process. We protect victims. We protect defendants. We protect witnesses," said Cahill, of Lynn, the House chair of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security , which had oversight of the legislation.

Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker speaks during a news conference at the State House on Thursday, March 19, 2026.John L. Micek/MassLive

Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker said he appreciated the outreach. Both Vargas and González "came personally" to talk about the legislation.

"We had open dialogues. We had give and take. And at the end of it, the collaborativeness of these meetings, I think, shows in the language of this bill," Tucker said last week. " In very difficult times, it's sometimes hard to get to [an] agreement. One thing that we should all be able to agree on, even in the most difficult times, is people deserve due process. Victims, witnesses, defendants, all deserve their day in court."

Gladys Vega, the president and CEO of the Chelsea-based social services organization, La Colaborativa , also appreciated the legwork that lawmakers put into the bill.

From her hometown, Vega said she's learned that "leadership is not about words. It's about everyone's responsibility."

"It's about showing every day that the people that we serve have to trust us. And I have built my career in the building of that trust," she said.

The public safety guarantees offered by the bill go a long way toward shoring up trust in communities that have been rocked by immigration enforcement action and whose nerves have been frayed by masked officers in uniform, she said.

"This bill gives us hope in an era that we don't trust," Vega said.

Then, turning to lawmakers, advocates, and the crowd, Vega spoke in Spanish to really get to the heart of the matter.

"Gracias. Gracias por el poder. Gracias por la esperanza," she said, or "Thank you. Thank you for the power. Thank you for the hope."

Gov. Maura Healey, flanked by advocates, lawmakers and others, signs the 2025 "shield" bill into law at the State House on Aug. 7, 2025.State House News Service

Mass. reports big increase in abortions

Bay State abortion providers doubled the number of procedures they performed between 2023 and 2024, an increase driven by out-of-state patients seeking care, new state data indicate.

The state Department of Public Health logged 49,450 abortions in 2024, up from 24,355 in 2023, State House News Service reported . The numbers drew sharp criticism from anti-abortion activists and praise from abortion rights advocates, the wire service reported.

Insurers are required under state law to cover abortion and abortion-related services. Federal health officials have launched a " compliance review " of the mandate, the wire service reported.

In a letter to state officials, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it was probing whether 13 states, including Massachusetts, were "allegedly coercing health care entities to provide coverage of, or pay for, abortion contrary to conscience."

In 2024, more out-of-state residents sought abortion care than those who lived in the state, data indicated. About 21,400 patients were Bay Staters, compared to roughly 27,840 patients from outside Massachusetts, the wire service reported.

"These numbers show that providers are increasing their ability and capacity to continue providing telehealth care, and that patients across the country are looking to Massachusetts as a safe place to access the care they want and need, when and where they need it," Taylor St. Germain, the interim co-executive director of the abortion rights group Reproductive Equity Now, told the wire service.

"By protecting telehealth care, Massachusetts' Shield Law is helping break down immense barriers and allowing people to access essential health care from where they are," St. Germain said.

Boston buildings pictured near South Station in December 2025.Hadley Barndollar

Monday numbers

The pro-business Massachusetts Opportunity Alliance is punching up some recent IRS data that adds some fuel to the fire on the endless debate over whether the commonwealth's wealthiest residents really are fleeing the state over its " Millionaires Tax. "

In 2023, the first year after the tax took effect, 150,394 people left the state and 119,934 people moved in, the alliance noted in a statement. The group is behind a fall ballot question trimming the state's 5% income tax.

During that same time frame, the state saw a net loss of $4.18 billion in income, up from $3.9 billion the year before, according to that IRS data. The "majority of that loss" came from those earning $200,000 a year or more, the group said.

"This data confirms that Massachusetts is losing talent and taxable income to lower-cost, lower-tax competitors," spokesperson Colin Reed said. "These numbers validate what anecdotal evidence – and commonsense — have been telling us all along: High state taxes, including the income surtax, are driving people away from Massachusetts."

In case you were wondering, the people who left Massachusetts settled north of the border in New Hampshire, or they headed south to Florida or North Carolina, all states with warmer — and more tax-friendly — climes.

The Massachusetts State House as pictured on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. in Boston, Mass.(Sebastian Restrepo/MassLive)

They said it

"I think, you know, this was an issue not just hosting in Massachusetts, but also across the country. I think everyone was waiting on these federal dollars and I think it is going to be very important for us to be able to put on the event. Having the partnership from the government, from a financial standpoint, I think, was very critical."

— House Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Aaron Michlewitz, D-3rd Suffolk, on the Bay State nabbing nearly $47 million in federal money to support this summer's FIFA World Cup .

Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers performs at Naperville's Ribfest at Knoch Park on Monday, July 3, 2017, in Naperville, IL. Rob Grabowski/Invision/AP

Turned up to 11

If you've been paying attention to social media of late, you've probably noticed that the 1990s are having a BIGmoment right now. With that in mind, The Wallflowers, led by Jakob Dylan (yes, that Dylan) play The Cape Cod Melody Tent on Aug. 13 ( tickets and more info here ).

It's hard to overstate just how massive the band's debut LP " Bringing Down the Horse " was when it dropped in 1996. You probably know the hits "One Headlight" or "6th Avenue Heartache" (which included backing vocals from another 1990s icon Adam Duritz of Counting Crows).

For my money, however, the hidden gem on the LP is " Three Marlenas ." So here it is for your Monday morning listening pleasure.

Vice President JD Vance speaks at EDSI Cables on Wednesday, March 18, 2026, in Auburn Hills, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Your Monday long read

President Donald Trump has no more vocal advocate than his second-in-command, Vice President JD Vance. But when it comes to matters of policy, the Ohio Republican largely has been benched. And that's given him a lot in common with someone the White House likes to criticize: Former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Writing for NYMag's Intelligencer, Ross Barkan takes a look at the parallels between the two veeps and what it portends for a guy who's been widely mentioned as the heir apparent to the MAGA throne.

Here's the germane bit:

Even before the Iran attack, Vance's path to the nomination was growing more complicated. A number of Republican donors reportedly began a "draft Rubio" movement. Trump has notably declined to outright endorse Vance for 2028 or downplay chatter around Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He now heaps praise on Rubio, which is ironic for those who remember how he humiliated him in 2016.

A decade later, the former Florida senator is arguably, along with Stephen Miller, one of the most powerful members of the administration. He has emerged as the central foreign-policy voice, overseeing the toppling of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and the bombing of Iran. Trump's move to starve and cripple Cuba appears to be another Rubio project.

... That stubborn Republican support of the Trump agenda, even the wars, is nonetheless making life very complicated for Vance, who until recently decried the idea of bombing Iran and jeered neoconservatives the way a progressive Democrat might.

That's it for today. As always, send your comments, questions and tips to jmicek@masslive.com. Have a great week, friends.

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