Every day, we see horrific violence by ICE agents across the country, including right here in Massachusetts. A Tufts University graduate student was illegally abducted and transported across the country. ICE and Custom and Border Protection (CBP) kidnapped and 18-year-old and detained him for a week n Worcester . These and many other ICE actions are not protecting us, they are making all of our communities less safe.
That is why western Massachusetts residents have turned out in big numbers to protest against ICE and to demand that our elected leaders do more leading. We must stand up to the cruelty and lawlessness of the Trump administration and their thugs. There was a recent surge of ICE activity in Maine, and Massachusetts could be targeted next. We need to be ready for that.
As an ESL tutor, as a neighbor and friend to many immigrants, and as a believer in human rights I can’t sit back and passively watch the abuse continue. I want to live in a community where everyone is protected and honored, regardless or their religion skin color, religion, national origin or status.
Of course, Massachusetts can’t stop all the abuses ICE is perpetrating, but we must stop being complicit. Despite Massachusetts’s history as a welcoming region, when it comes to protecting our immigrant communities, we lag behind other states. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia, and Washington have all passed critical legislation to prevent state and local law enforcement from collaborating with ICE. Not Massachusetts! Our Democratic governor and Legislature have been passive while talking a good game. At long last, Gov. Maura Healey and Beacon Hill legislators seem to be understanding that the public wants to see action. But they still need to pass legislation that truly meets the moment. Locally, Amherst Town Council will be voting on a resolution calling on the governor, attorney general, district attorney and police chief to enforce state law when federal employees, like ICE and CBP agents, violate them.
Beacon Hill should make it clear: state and local law enforcement should not be assisting ICE and should not be acting as ICE agents. Massachusetts law enforcement must never assist ICE in making civil immigration arrests (taking people into custody when no crime has been committed) or ask members of the public about their immigration status. 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.
Massachusetts is the only state with a Democratic governor and Democratic legislator to still have a statewide 287(g) agreement with ICE, even after a year of Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities. Governor Healey can end this collaboration with a stroke of her pen. Yet she has waited, while our neighbors are threatened, harassed and abducted.
I appreciate the good work Representatives Mindy Domb and Lindsay Sabadosa and Senator Jo Comerford have done supporting real legal protection for immigrants. The time is now to protect our neighbors, ourselves and our state. I urge everyone to contact Gov. Healey and your state legislators, and call for urgent action.
Brooks Ballenger lives in Amherst.