Last week, Representative Sylvia Garcia re-introduced the Dream and Promise Act. This bill would provide a pathway to US citizenship for most DACA recipients, other DREAMers, and those on Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure.
Various lawsuits against the administration’s xenophobic actions continue to make their way through the courts. Some recent updates include:
- Birthright Citizenship: 4 preliminary injunctions remain in place, blocking the administration from implementing their highly unconstitutional efforts to restrict birthright citizenship. The administration has already lost its initial appeal in the 9th Circuit to stop the injunction. Just yesterday, the 1st Circuit rejected the administration’s appeal of the injunction issued here in Boston.
- Temporary Protected Status: Last week, organizations and individuals from Boston filed suit against the Trump Administration in an effort to protect Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians and Venezuelans. Haitian-Americans United, the Venezuelan Association of MA, and Undocublack, represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights, argue that the administration’s attacks on these programs are in violation of federal law and are asking the court to block these decisions from DHS.
- Parole: The Haitian Bridge Alliance joined plaintiffs from around the country in suing the Trump Administration to block the government’s efforts to cut off categorical humanitarian parole programs, including CHNV, Uniting for Ukraine, and Operation Allies Welcome. The suit, filed in federal court February 28, accuses the administration of violating federal law not only in ending these programs, but also in blocking beneficiaries from accessing any other forms of relief.
Communities continue to rally and join together in solidarity; to learn how to protect and support each other; and to spread Know Your Rights resources and education.
- Around 100 people gathered last Monday night at First Parish in Brookline to learn about ways they can help immigrants in the Boston area. . . .Jennifer Wofford of Brookline hosted a Zoom event Thursday, the third in a series of virtual meetings she has led in the past couple of months to share ways people can support immigrant families, either volunteering or lobbying campaigns. . . . Another group, the Newton-Brookline Asylum Resettlement Coalition, made up of members from seven congregations, held a Feb. 15 panel about keeping immigrants in the community safe. Brookline News: Faith groups and activists mobilize in Brookline to support immigrant families
- On Saturday, March 8, 200 Somerville residents rallied in support of our immigrant neighbors in front of the East Somerville Library for two hours in 30-degree temperatures. The rally featured Somerville residents sharing their immigrant stories and loudly declaring their existence here. Many local organizations shared their ongoing work and commitment to support immigrant communities during national attacks on immigrants and undocumented people. Rally attendees joined calls for an end to deportations and ICE raids, for Maura Healey to declare Massachusetts a Sanctuary State, to uphold Somerville’s sanctuary city status, and for city elected officials to affirm immigrants’ important role and right to be in our city and schools. Somerville Times:Somerville unites in solidarity with immigrants: ‘We are here because the U.S. was there’
- Dozens of Jewish American activists with @jewishvoiceforpeace were arrested in New York on Thursday after occupying the lobby of Trump Tower to protest the detention of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident now facing possible deportation for protesting Israel’s war on Gaza.
The activists held banners opposing Trump and fascism and chanted, “Come for one, face us all. Free Mahmoud, free them all.” Instagram post
- As the Trump administration has signaled its intention to ramp up immigration enforcement, advocates have been ramping up their education efforts on what people’s rights are when interacting with ICE. That came in handy for Zapata on the day agents showed up at El Cambio Latino. She remembered an informational packet and card distributed by her daughter’s school. Zapata said the agents who approached her didn’t present her with a judicial warrant or even give her a business card. “I remembered my rights and told the man, ‘I’m not obligated to respond to your questions,’” said Zapata. WGBH: East Boston business owners keep ICE at arm’s length by knowing their rights