Laying into ICE, Healey stops short of saying it should be abolished

Politics

ICE is a “broken” agency that needs to be “completely overhauled,” Gov. Maura Healey said, calling for reforms.

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Amid national furor over ICE tactics, Gov. Maura Healey has consistently railed against the agency and the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement efforts. She filed legislation this week and signed an executive order aimed at reining in federal agents, saying that ICE is engaging in unlawful actions designed to stoke fear and destabilize communities. 

Healey maintained that combative tone Friday, but stopped short of calling for ICE to be abolished outright. 

Appearing on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio,” Healey was asked about comments made by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who says that ICE needs to be eradicated altogether. 

Customs and Border Patrol, as well as ICE, have had an “important mission” in the past, Healey said. She supported the broad mission that they had, but currently argues that these agencies are not fulfilling their intended purposes. 

“What needs to happen is that ICE needs to be pulled back right now and it needs to be fixed. Call it reform, call it whatever, the thing is broken. It is not working, it is not functioning,” she said on GBH. 

Earlier in the program, Healey called on President Donald Trump to recall ICE agents and institute reforms. Residents, in the meantime, should continue what they have been doing during the first year of Trump’s second term. She emphasized the importance of providing legal services, food, and other care to families being affected by the mass deportation campaign. 

In Massachusetts, Healey said that residents are afraid to go to school, to court, and even to doctor’s appointments due to fear of ICE. She spoke about the new legislation she filed, which aims to “restore trust in government.” It would ban warrantless civil arrests by ICE agents inside of courthouses, prohibit schools from allowing ICE onto their premises without judicial warrants, and enact similar restrictions at hospitals and other medical facilities. 

The bill would also prevent federal agents from conducting civil arrests within places of worship while subjects are attending services. It would make it unlawful for another state to deploy its National Guard troops to Massachusetts without her approval, and it would allow parents to “pre-arrange guardianship” for their children if they are detained or deported by ICE. 

Healey also signed an executive order that prevents ICE from using state facilities as staging grounds, prohibits immigration arrests in nonpublic areas of state facilities, and bans any agency within the Executive Department from signing contracts with ICE that allow for the deputization of local authorities to conduct immigration enforcement. 

The governor told residents to continue pressuring Congress to restrain the Trump administration. The ouster of officials like Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem or CBP Commander Greg Bovino will not fix the situation, she said. If Trump refuses to act, Congress must step in, she added. 

“I cannot call ICE a law enforcement agency. They are not acting in any way that comports with standard law enforcement practice,” Healey said. 

Healey announced her candidacy for reelection earlier this month with a heavy focus on affordability and antagonism to the Trump administration. She emphasized these themes in her State of the Commonwealth address and has been outspoken in the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. 

Her announcement this week was met with praise from immigrant advocates, local law enforcement officials, religious leaders, and more. Debates around reforming ICE versus outright abolishing it stand to play a major role in midterm elections across the country, reawakening divides among Democrats. 

With the highly-publicized violence in Minnesota, public opinion is shifting. More Americans now support abolishing ICE as opposed to keeping it intact in some way, according to a recent YouGov poll. More than 75% of Democrats want to abolish ICE, as do almost half of independents. Some prominent voices are now even calling for a fundamental overhauling of the entire Department of Homeland Security.   

Healey has many harsh words for the Trump administration and ICE but as of now is steering clear of using language like “abolish” when describing what needs to be done. 

“This is an agency that is broken, and that needs to be reformed and fixed and completely overhauled,” Healey said.