Tuesday, 11/25: The Protecting Massachusetts Communities Campaign Holds Rally Urging Lawmakers to Defend Immigrant Rights
Immigration Advocates, Labor Unions and Allies Across the State Gather to Advance Legislation to Shield Immigrants from Inhumane Enforcement Efforts
Boston- The Protecting Massachusetts Communities (PMC) Campaign will gather Tuesday to urgently call on state leaders to pass legislation to defend immigrant communities from the continued unmitigated threats and attacks from the Trump administration.
This unique coalition has formed to refocus debate over immigrant protections in Massachusetts and ensure the state’s core freedoms, economic opportunities and affordability can be protected in the coming years.
“Immigrants are living in an environment of fear as they see their neighbors, co-workers and loved ones subject to attacks from Federal enforcement agents,” said Gil Calderin, Director of Advocacy at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. “We are calling on state leaders to pass protections that will keep our communities safe and free from constant worry that they may be taken by ICE at any moment, without due process.”
The PMC Campaign believes that the establishment of safeguards to protect Massachusetts communities is long overdue and has reached a critical stage. Given the current Federal administration, constant and ambiguous changes to immigration policies, and increasingly aggressive enforcement, Massachusetts can no longer wait to keep those who call Massachusetts home safe.
“In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, our union represents over 22,000 building cleaners, security officers, and other property service workers who ensure the clean, safe functioning of locations from Logan terminals, to Cambridge universities, to Boston skyscrapers. The majority of these essential workers also are immigrants,” said Kevin Brown,Executive Vice President of 32BJ SEIU. Three of our members with valid work authorization are now suffering separation from their spouses and children after being seized this fall in seemingly random sweeps of immigrant neighborhoods, and all our immigrant members are justifiably living daily in fear of the federal government’s monstrous assaults. We urge the State House to support legislation that will do as much as we can to protect all state residents from this injustice, as soon as possible.”
“ICE’s actions are tearing at the fabric of communities all across our great Commonwealth. ICE has gone too far: grabbing people on their way to work and school, smashing car windows, perpetrating violence, and destroying lives,” said Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “The Trump administration’s capacity for cruelty and terror knows no bounds. It’s time for leaders in the Commonwealth to speak with one voice and say, ‘We will not assist ICE. We will not turn our police into ICE agents.”
The members of the PMC Coalition have witnessed the devastating effects of the inhumane and violent immigration enforcement efforts that have devastated communities, torn families apart, stripped workplaces of employees, and created an environment of fear that deeply affects the livelihoods, health, and lives of all immigrants.
Priority Protections:
- Ban assistance to ICE: Massachusetts law enforcement must be prohibited from assisting ICE in making civil immigration arrests and asking the public of their immigration status. This erodes trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement. When people are afraid to go to the police, we are all less safe.
- Prohibit local police from becoming ICE agents: ICE is pressuring local police departments to sign up for its 287(g) program, which turns street-level officers into ICE agents. Massachusetts should prevent this misuse of public safety resources from happening within our borders.
- Fund legal help to fight deportations: Immigrants facing deportation proceedings are not guaranteed a court-appointed attorney if they cannot afford one. Passing the Immigrant Legal Defense Act will give immigrants who can’t afford legal representation a fighting chance in immigration court.
The PMC Campaign asks those joining the rally to show their support afterwards by attending the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security where three bills that touch on elements in our shared priority protections by coalition members will be heard by legislators: Immigrant Legal Defense Act (S.1127/H.1954), Dignity Not Deportations (S.1122/H.1588), and Safe Communities Act (S.1681/H.2580). The PMC Campaign’s goal is to fill the rooms with people who support our cause and show legislators that they must act now.
WHAT: Protecting Massachusetts Communities Rally to Defend Immigrant Rights
WHEN: Tuesday, November 25 at 9:00 am
WHERE: Room 428, The Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, 02133
WHO:
- Gil Calderin, Director of Advocacy, MIRA
- Laura Rótolo, Senior Advocacy Director for Field Initiatives, ACLU of Massachusetts
- Cari Medina, Executive Vice President, 1199SEIU
- Max Page, President, Massachusetts Teachers Association
- Pablo Ruiz, Political Director, 32BJ
- Marcelo Gomes da Silva, Impacted person, Milford Public High School
- Karen Pimentel, Impacted Person, Employee of Merrimack Health Methuen Hospital
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The Protecting Massachusetts Communities (PMC) campaign is chaired by the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition and the Brazilian Workers Center, and includes the ACLU of Massachusetts, SEIU State Council, SEIU 32BJ, 1199 SEIU, SEIU 509, Massachusetts Teachers Association, and the Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action (JALSA).
For media requests please contact: Ellen Fleming EFleming@melwoodglobal.com