NORTHAMPTON — City Council at its last meeting voted unanimously to approve a revised resolution to hold federal immigration enforcement accountable for violating the law, prompting broad support from community members who expressed a hope that more can be done to protect immigrant communities.
The resolution, which was first brought before the council at its April 15 meeting before being approved last Thursday, urges state legislators to pass the PROTECT Act (H.D. 5608) and the Safe Communities Act (S.1681 and H2.580), which intend to limit municipalities’ required cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and safeguard residents’ constitutional rights.
“I really appreciated all the input we got. It just tells me something about our community — people are concerned; they’re concerned about their neighbors, and they’re concerned about what’s right and they’re willing to work with us on this,” City Council President Rachel Maiore said. “ICE needs to be abolished. I think they’re a racist gang of bullies who are harming people in our community who are just here to be our neighbors, and to work and to study, and it’s a shame. We all need to stand up now, there’s no other time, this is it.”
Following resident requests for the resolution to have more “legal teeth,” it was amended to include provisions calling for the Northwestern district attorney to prosecute crimes committed by federal agents and affirming residents’ rights to sue federal agents who violate state laws.
“Be it resolved that federal agents who violate state criminal laws in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts are subject to civil liability laws, allowing victims suffering personal injuries to seek redress in state courts,” the resolution states.
The revised resolution saw significant support from members of the public who spoke Thursday evening. Ward 4 resident Julio Alves warned the public that the current federal administration is “testing” cities and towns with ICE raids.
“I urge you to be as firm and strong and forceful … with the language as possible, because I am also an immigrant, now a naturalized citizen. It breaks my heart to see what’s happening right now, and I can imagine that I can live it right now, but I can also imagine what it would have meant for my family,” he said. “I also was born and grew up in a dictatorship, so I also know that this is just the beginning. These ICE activities are just the beginning. This is the test ground for what’s to come — they are testing this out on the most vulnerable population, but they will not stop there if they are left unchecked.”
Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra thanked the council for drafting and supporting the document, noting that she believed it would be “added to the city’s history in speaking out and creating policy and law.”
Sciarra explained that the resolution follows the city’s track record for supporting protections against ICE, mentioning a 2011 resolution expressing opposition to federal immigration enforcement programs, and former Mayor David Narkewicz’s 2014 executive policy order to prohibit Northampton Police from honoring ICE detainer requests that are non-criminal and unsupported by a judicial warrant.
In the council’s deliberations over the resolution, its sponsors, Councilors Maiore, Deborah Klemer, Laurie Loisel and Gwenevra Nabad acknowledged the resolution’s limited power in holding a federal agency accountable, though they expressed a personal willingness to do whatever it takes to protect their community.
“I am aware that people feel like this [resolution] doesn’t have teeth … I’m sorry to say resolutions don’t have teeth, but to me, that does not mean they’re not powerful and effective in changing culture,” Loisel said. “This problem with ICE is something that the community needs to grapple with, and that I feel like there’s this wish that we could fix it … I’m going to be out there protesting, if there’s ICE hauling someone away. I am committed to what I do here on the council, but this is not the only thing I do to address this very disturbing problem that’s happening in our country. This is a community issue, and we’re doing one thing here, but we have to be on the streets.”
