TELL LAWMAKERS: PROTECT IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS

TAKE ACTION NOW

After four years of Trump, it's time for Massachusetts to finally pass legislation to protect our immigrant neighbors from the federal government's racist and cruel deportation machine.

That's why we're urging lawmakers to support two bills that would help keep families together and uphold public safety: The Safe Communities Act (HD1165; SD273) and the Work and Family Mobility Act (HD448; SD273).

The Safe Communities Act would prohibit local police and sheriffs from doing the bidding of ICE at the expense of public safety and civil liberties. The Work and Family Mobility Act would enable all state residents to apply for a standard driver's license, regardless of immigration status, affording thousands of Massachusetts residents the ability to drive legally and ensuring safer roads for all of us.

Let's make sure our leaders support these protections for our immigrant neighbors!

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Subject

As your constituent, I urge you to establish basic protections for our immigrant neighbors here in the Commonwealth. Please co-sponsor the Safe Communities Act (HD1165/SD532), filed by Reps. Balser and Miranda, and Sen. Eldridge; and please co-sponsor the Work and Family Mobility Act (HD448/SD273), filed by Reps. Barber and Farley-Bouvier, Sen. Gomez and Sen. Crighton.

Message Body

The Safe Communities Act would appropriately limit local police cooperation with ICE. It's time to prohibit local law enforcement from stepping into the role of immigration enforcement and end the notorious 287(g) agreements that allow the federal government to deputize local sheriffs and correctional officers as ICE agents-something the Trump administration ramped up significantly. Attorney General Maura Healey has already recommended that Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson's 287(g) agreement be terminated due to his abysmal treatment of immigrant detainees.

Until the Commonwealth disentangles itself from ICE, immigrants, their family members, and their friends are all less likely to come forward as witnesses, provide crime tips, or seek police protection for fear of putting themselves or their loved ones at risk. During a global pandemic, the cost of this entanglement is even greater, as people are reluctant to get a free COVID-19 test or a vaccine for fear that state and local agencies won't safeguard their information, or that ICE will use it to locate them and deport them or their loved ones. That means everyone is less safe.

The Work and Family Mobility Act would enable all qualified residents to apply for a standard driver's license. This would provide dignity to thousands of essential workers and ensure safer roads for all of us. Withholding licenses from qualified drivers who depend on the ability to drive for their jobs does nothing but force workers into desperate situations and make it harder to see that everyone who gets behind the wheel is insured. 16 states have already adopted this commonsense public safety measure. Massachusetts should join them.

After four years of Trump, we can no longer ignore the fact that our immigration system inflicts great and needless cruelty upon vulnerable people, including thousands of caregivers and essential workers. The Commonwealth does not determine federal policy, but nor are we obliged to roll out the welcome mat for entities like ICE that gleefully tear families and communities apart-or to use the tools of government to punish people who just want to live and work. Massachusetts must lead the way in a post-Trump world, and we can't do that without a firm moral stance on this issue.

Once again, I urge you to co-sponsor the Safe Communities Act and the Work and Family Mobility Act.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]

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TELL LAWMAKERS: PROTECT IMMIGRANTS' RIGHTS

TAKE ACTION NOW

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