Democratic governor signs 'strongest' anti-ICE legislation yet

Residents of Massachusetts will have to live with more illegal aliens among them after the Democrat-controlled government passed the "strongest" protections against Immigration and Customs Enforcement yet.

Gov. Maura Healey (D-Mass.) signed the Protect Act on Wednesday in a ceremony at an economic development agency in the city of Chelsea.

'ICE is so wrong in what it's doing, and ICE needs to be stopped, here in Massachusetts and around this country, just stopped in its tracks.'

Healey claimed the law included the "strongest" protections for illegal aliens against ICE.

"I think we can agree that we need immigration reform in this country," Healey said to reporters. "We can agree we need controls at the border. We can also agree that ICE is so wrong in what it's doing, and ICE needs to be stopped, here in Massachusetts and around this country, just stopped in its tracks."

The bill will restrict ICE agents from performing civil immigration arrests without a warrant at courthouses, schools, child care centers, and health care facilities.

Healey said the fear of ICE operations has led the immigrant community in Chelsea to stop going to doctor appointments and to take their kids out of school. Chelsea schools have reported a decline in attendance.

She also claimed that ICE agents at courthouses have kept witnesses and others from showing up to their hearings.

"This is what ICE is doing to our people and our neighborhoods," Healey said. "All of this done by ICE agents, who are untrained, unqualified, and unfit to do their jobs."

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The Trump administration has increased immigration enforcement this summer, leading to a record number of detentions for the month of July, according to records obtained by CBS News.

"The Protect Act is the strongest law in the country to protect people from ICE, and to protect public safety," Healey concluded.

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