Resisting Trump’s Extreme Immigration Policies with the Safe Communities Act

By Heather Busk, Progressive Watertown

“When Mexico sends its people, it’s not sending its best…They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

That is a direct quote from our current President. In his dark view of the world, the United States is under assault by a horde of dangerous immigrants unleashing a wave of violence against hapless citizens. There’s only one tiny problem with this view-it’s completely false.

It should come as no surprise to see once again that Trump and his henchmen live in an alternate reality.

Contrary to Trump’s hysterical fever dreams, immigrants (undocumented or otherwise) do not commit violent crimes any more than other groups. This deserves reiteration, because our beliefs have been warped by decades of television and movies pushing this false narrative. If immigrants are so much more dangerous, why did violent crime decline by 34% from 1994 to 2005, while the foreign born population increased by 71%? The national crime rate has dropped sharply over the last few decades, including in areas where the number of undocumented immigrants grew significantly. Areas with a larger immigrant population (including undocumented) have lower crime rates, after controlling for other factors. They have incarceration rates below native born Americans. So whatever our immigration policy is, it should reflect the fact that the undocumented are not responsible for this nonexistent crime wave.

This rhetoric about criminals serves as a distraction from the large number of people without criminal records who have also been deported. Maribel Trujillo, a mother of four US citizen children, a business owner who has lived in the US for 15 years, was deported in April. In Lawrence, five were arrested when they appeared for scheduled meetings with USCIS, some of which were to begin the green card process. None of the people in these examples had a criminal record, and this is not unusual. The number of deportees without criminal records has more than doubled during Trump’s time in office, to more than 10,800 so far. By the end of Obama’s term, the official deportation policy was “Felons, not families” yet even under this policy, many of those deported had no criminal record. Far from being a champion of the undocumented, Obama oversaw the deportation of 2.4 million people, more than any previous president. Trump wants to go even further, and his administration’s policies expand the deportation priority from criminals to potentially anyone.

In this cold discussion of “immigration enforcement,” we must never forget the human face of it–families broken apart. To keep families whole, and to make sure that the job of the police is to keep us safe, not deport our neighbors, Massachusetts should become a sanctuary state. 

The Safe Communities Act would:

  • Prevent state and local government from using their resources to aid in the enforcement of immigration law. It does allow the use of houses of corrections to hold people in ICE custody, provided the use is reimbursed. This will allow potential deportees to remain closer to home, closer to their families and legal aid. Detainees who are sent to remote locations are on average held months longer before deportation or release.
  • Prohibits law enforcement from asking about someone’s immigration status, except as required by law or as necessary to investigate a crime.
  • Prohibits law enforcement agencies or the RMV from contributing information to federal attempts to register people on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or national or ethnic origin. In other words, we won’t help make the infamous Muslim registry.
  • Prohibits law enforcement from detaining or arresting anyone solely for immigration purposes, and prohibits any state or local personnel from acting as immigration agents.
  • Prohibits the honoring of detainer requests and requires that the determination of bail ignore the detainer. Detainers are requests for local law enforcement to hold people who have been arrested an extra 48 hours, if they are suspected to be undocumented, giving ICE a chance to come pick them up. To be clear, under the proposed law, an arrested person would not be released early because of immigration status, it would simply stop them from being held past their lawful release time because of a detainer request. This is consistent with how criminal justice works for citizens. Many arrests are made for minor crimes that do not carry a long jail time as punishment, and many charges are dismissed. Furthermore, not everyone arrested is guilty-don’t forget, “innocent until proven guilty.” For those charged with more serious crimes, law enforcement and the courts will, as always, consider the severity of the alleged crime, flight risk, and other factors before deciding whether to release them and how much to charge for bail. So people who likely pose a danger to the public will not be released, just like now. 
  • Requires that the person in local custody must give consent for a DHS agent to interview them. Requires that they be informed of their rights if an interview is requested. (It’s hard to exercise your rights if you don’t know what they are). If they ask for an attorney, no interview may take place without the attorney’s presence.

Proponents of strict immigration enforcement often argue that breaking immigration law is breaking the law, and lawbreakers should be prosecuted. But step back a second. Do we hold people in prison for months for jaywalking? No. That’s breaking the law too, so why not? Because we follow the principle of “the punishment should fit the crime.” Along those lines, the punishment for jaywalking is typically a small fine. To address lawbreaking, we have a range of possible responses, including prison, probation, rehabilitation programs, or fines. For those who break immigration law, the choices don’t have to be either deport or do nothing, and as a society we need to have a conversation about what the appropriate policy is.

Being undocumented simply means you are in the country without permission. (Far from the dramatic border crossing we may envision from movies, most undocumented entered the country legally but overstayed their visas. The largest group of those who overstay are Canadians). For those who have been here for a long while, deportation means the disruption of an entire life–losing a job, losing a home, and being separated from family. To me, that seems like far too harsh of a punishment for failing to file paperwork.

The undocumented may not be citizens, but that does not mean they should have no civil rights protections–human rights do not depend on where you were born or where you live. They aren’t given as many protections in immigration proceedings, but the courts have repeatedly affirmed that they at least have a right to due process.

To avoid levying a punishment much more severe than the crime warrants, the individual circumstances of each potential deportee should be considered. If they have strong ties to the US such as a spouse or children who are US citizens or permanent residents, deportation should not be done lightly. In the case of individuals who have committed crimes, that means looking at the severity of their crime to decide whether it warrants deportation and whether their expulsion would have a large disruptive effect on the local community. (Is it really better for society if children lose their parents for a minor non-violent crime?) Now compare this nuanced approach, which addresses our border security and public safety needs without neglecting civil rights, to what Trump wants to do.

During his campaign, Trump swore to deport all 11 or so million undocumented immigrants. Later on, he relented and promised to deport “only” the two or three million that he believes are criminals (although it’s disputed if there are that many with a criminal record, and many of those have a record for a minor crime), but his actions as President have hewed closer to his original position.

He may be a pathological liar, but so far he really does seem to be trying to keep many of his campaign promises. To this end, he has signed a few executive orders on immigration.  Among other things, he calls for the building of the notorious wall along the border, the building and staffing of detention centers, the hiring of 5000 more border patrol agents, and he instructs the attorney general to have federal prosecutors prioritize offenses somehow connected to the border (diverting resources away from other pressing concerns). More directly relevant to Massachusetts, he gets local jurisdictions tangled up in enforcing federal immigration laws by calling for the cooperation of state and local governments in enforcing those laws, deputizing local and state law enforcement to act as immigration agents, expanding who is considered a priority for deportation, and ordering that federal funding be cut off to sanctuary jurisdictions.

We don’t have to guess how this will turn out–these policies have been tried before. Essentially, he is reinstating and reinvigorating two programs that have a troubled history of civil rights abuses, namely Secure Communities and 287(g) agreements.

Secure Communities was established under Bush in 2008 and was repealed by Obama in 2014 after strong criticism of the program. Under it, when someone was arrested, their fingerprints were sent to ICE to do an immigration check. If the fingerprints matched someone ICE believed to be deportable, they would issue a detainer request, asking that law enforcement hold the person for up to 48 hours past their scheduled release so that ICE could have time to pick them up. It sounds innocuous, unless you delve into the results as revealed by a study of the program from 2008 to 2011. 

First of all, families were broken apart. Through 2011, 83,000 families with US citizens were affected by the program, and 39% of those deported had citizens in their family.

The fraction of people deported with no criminal record or with arrests for a minor crime grew significantly when Secure Communities was in force: 45% had committed serious crimes, but 29% were accused of minor offenses, especially traffic violations, and 26% had no convictions. This means that more than half had a history of only minor offenses or no crime at all. In Massachusetts it was worse–in 2013, 55% had no criminal record whatsoever. ICE triumphantly pointed to the growing fraction of “criminal aliens” it deported under Secure Communities, but most of that increase was due to an increasing proportion of people deported for breaking immigration or traffic related laws.

This suggests that when ICE had to expend its own resources to track down undocumented immigrants, actual threats to society were prioritized. But when local law enforcement had done the work for them, they jumped at the opportunity to deport anyone, even if that person was not dangerous. Safe Communities, in contrast, will help keep the focus on dangerous criminals. 

Under Trump’s executive order, once again peaceful, productive members of society are being indiscriminately deported. We must protect our neighbors. By refusing to cooperate at the local level, we will reduce the number of people deported, and lower the number of families broken apart. 

Secure Communities has a poor record on respecting due process. Potential deportees, in principle, are typically supposed to get a hearing where a judge will determine their fate. They are also allowed a lawyer, although the government will not pay for it. We have a perverse system where because breaking immigration law is considered a civil rather than a criminal offense, there is no right to a lawyer, even though they are treated very much like criminals.

Under Secure Communities, only about half even got a hearing and of those only a quarter had a lawyer (compared to 41% in other immigration court proceedings). For many, this is essentially conviction for a crime without the oversight of a judge and without legal representation.

Without a lawyer, they are far more likely to be deported. Without legal counsel, some may not realize that they have a way to stay in the country, for instance through claiming asylum or if they have family who are US citizens or permanent residents. Instead, they may be pressured to voluntarily remove themselves and bypass the hearing process. It’s easy to be intimidated when you’re locked up, possibly hundreds of miles from your family, and without anyone there to give you advice except your jailers. Safe Communities will ensure that fewer people are chewed up by this extrajudicial system.

Even more egregiously, the detainers are issued for people who are suspected of being deportable, and ICE routinely gets it wrong. According to one estimate, in 2011, 1-2% of Secure Communities detainers were against US citizens. Over a few years, this amounted to approximately 3,600 citizens illegally held. Permanent residents and visa holders also have protections against arbitrary detention and deportation. Holding citizens and other legal residents like this amounts to punishment without conviction for a crime.

What’s more, local jurisdictions have been held financially liable for improperly holding people under Secure Communities, for settlements of tens of thousands of dollars. The federal government has not reimbursed them for this cost. An Oregon judge ruled that a detainer does not give local jurisdictions probable cause to hold someone. It does not have the same legal force as a warrant, which has to be reviewed by a judge. Safe Communities would protect municipalities from being sued for obeying Trump’s order.

Under 287(g), local jurisdictions enter into agreements to take on some immigration enforcement duties. In the jail-based version, it expands Secure Communities by allowing local law enforcement to determine the immigration status of those they arrest rather than waiting for a request from DHS. In Massachusetts, the Bristol and Plymouth County Sheriff’s Offices and the Department of Corrections have entered into such agreements. Trump wants to return to a task-force model, where law enforcement could act as immigration agents out in the community as well. This model was previously discontinued because it was an inefficient use of resources and encouraged racial profiling, with Latinos over-represented among those arrested.

In addition, one key principle of good policing is that the police and the communities they serve should trust each other. The police should be seen as the ones who keep us safe, not our adversaries. If they take on the duties of immigration officers, this trust will be undermined, as the undocumented will be be afraid to go to the police for fear of being deported. Information they have about crimes will go unshared. Victims will decline to report the crimes against them, and criminals will continue to walk free. This obsession with immigrants distracts from addressing the actual causes of crime and will make us less safe, not more. Indeed, there is some evidence that sanctuary jurisdictions are safer than comparable non-sanctuary jurisdictions. 

Federal immigration law is the law of that land, but there is no reason that local police should be required to help. There are many federal laws that local and state police do not work to enforce, instead leaving it to federal law enforcement. Why should immigration law be any different? The Department of Homeland Security, with a budget far greater than anything at the local level, can do its own work instead of robbing badly needed resources from local authorities. Communities that have entered into 287(g) agreements have faced financial hardship because of the added immigration duties, and the added cost has come without improved public safety.

Under Safe Communities, law enforcement will continue focusing on dangerous criminals, and continue to leave immigration law enforcement to federal authorities.

Some have expressed fear about becoming a sanctuary state because of Trump’s threats to cut off federal funding in retaliation, in a transparent attempt to bully us into compliance. There is some good news on this front. It is unclear if he can legally do this, and recently some courts have ruled that he cannot, so it may be an empty threat.

Beyond this, do we want to be complicit in something we know is wrong? Do we want to help ICE break apart families and ruin lives? There is little we can do to stop federal agents from deporting people, but at least we can refuse to help. Even federal resources are limited, and by refusing to help, we can reduce the number of people who are affected, and can keep the focus on deporting dangerous criminals.

People who come here illegally not to hurt anyone, but to build a better life for themselves and their families should not be hounded as dangerous criminals for doing so. At the minimum, they should have some kind of due process protections before deportation. Draconian measures such as Trump’s planned mass deportations will tear at the very fabric of our society. They cannot not be done without egregiously violating civil rights, damaging the economy, ripping families apart, and weakening the protections that are so vital to a democracy.

Trump wants to go farther than deporting dangerous criminals: his two influential advisers who wrote the orders, Stephen Miller and Stephen Bannon, have publicly revealed that they want all immigration to this country curtailed.

Trump has a history of seeing how far he can go, of testing the reaction to his policy proposals, and then backing off to something a little more moderate when there was too strong of a backlash. During his campaign, he repeatedly made extreme policy suggestions, and when too many people got angry, he denied ever saying anything so outrageous, instead blaming the “lying media” for making up stories (despite the documented evidence to the contrary). If we give in on this, he will likely keep coming back with ever more extreme policies. It is better to resist now, rather than wait until his policies are even harsher. So far Trump has focused on terrorism and illegal immigration, but if he gets the chance he will go after legal immigrants as well. Let’s make him afraid to try.

CommonWealth: Democratic supermajority not so super

Democratic supermajority not so super” — Jonathan Cohn, CommonWealth (5/27/2017)

IN THE YEAR FOLLOWING a presidential election, the Massachusetts Democratic Party updates its platform. A party platform can stand as a defiant statement of goals and ideals, and a roadmap for a legislative agenda and priorities. In today’s national political climate, such aspirational declarations are especially important as they offer voters something to fight for and something to vote for.

The platform released just last week contains new planks on paid family and medical leave, a $15 minimum wage, automatic voter registration, and the elimination of mandatory minimum sentences, bolstering what was already, by and large, a progressive document.

On Saturday, June 3, delegates from across the state will convene in Worcester to approve the platform, perhaps with a few amendments to make it stronger.

On Monday, June 5, if the past is any guide, our overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature will proceed to completely ignore it.

Read the full article here.

Is Beacon Hill Ready to Stand up to Trump?

If you’re like us, your inbox has been swamped over the past few months with rallies and action alerts about how to fight the reactionary Trump-McConnell-Ryan agenda coming out of Washington.

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Massachusetts is in position to be a leader in the resistance against Trump’s agenda–and a beacon of progressive policy for the rest of the country.

Although our Republican governor, Charlie Baker, is not going to stand up to Trump as much as he should, Attorney General Maura Healey has been at the forefront of fighting for civil rights and environmental protection, among other issues, in the Age of Trump.

And Massachusetts has the third largest Democratic supermajorities in the country, with 34 out of 40 senators and 126 out of 160 representatives. In theory, then, whether or not Baker is willing to fight Trump, the Legislature has the votes to do so.

But…

The Legislature, as our scorecards (and brand new scorecard page) show, routinely fails to live up to the ideal of what one might hope for from a Legislature this overwhelmingly blue.

Trump has created a sense of urgency among progressive voters. But, based on statements on policy and priorities, we have yet to see that same urgency from the State House.

A Beacon Hill Committee to Focus on Trump

In late March, Speaker Bob DeLeo appointed nine House Democrats to a working group to guide responses to “unprecedented actions” of the Trump administration.

The group consists of House Majority Leader Ron Mariano (D-Quincy); Speaker Pro Tem Patricia Haddad (D-Somerset); Assistant Majority Leader Byron Rushing (D-South End); House Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Chair Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford); House Steering, Policy and Scheduling Chair James Murphy (D-Weymouth); Public Health Chair Kate Hogan (D-Stow); Health Care Financing Chair Jeffrey Sanchez (D-Jamaica Plain); Rules vice chair Marjorie Decker (D-Cambridge), and Export Development vice chair James Arciero (D-Westford).

The working group is tasked with coming up with legislative solutions that are both “necessary and feasible.” The devil, of course, will be in the details….

…whose definitions of “necessary” and “feasible”?

…Will this group aggressively push a progressive agenda, or will they settle for the lethargic status quo?

We plan to follow the working group to the best of our abilities as it moves forward. But what do we know so far?

According to State House News Service, the group will focus on “economic stability, health care, higher education, and the state’s most vulnerable residents.”

Strong, progressive policies on all of these issues have been proposed this session. (We center our Legislative Agenda on many of them!)

Where do the working group members stand on them?

Economic Stability:

Trump, along with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, wants to make an economy that works just for the top 1%. How do we promote shared prosperity by contrast? We could do so by passing a $15 minimum wage and paid family and medical leave, for starters.

Four out of the nine–Cabral, Decker, Hogan, and Rushing–have co-sponsored the Fight for $15 bill. Six–Cabral, Decker, Haddad, Hogan, Murphy, Rushing–have signed on to paid family and medical leave.

Health Care:

Trump wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying health care to millions. The task facing progressives is to improve and expand upon the Affordable Care Act with a single payer/Medicare for All system that truly enshrines health care as a human right.

So far, only two out of the nine–Decker and Rushing–have signed on to such legislation.

Trump and the Republican Congress also have their sights set on taking away women’s rights over their own bodies. Congress has already passed legislation enabling states to defund Planned Parenthood. Progressives shouldn’t stand for that. One of the members of the working group, Rep. Haddad, is a leader sponsor of the ACCESS bill, which would require insurance carriers to provide all contraceptive methods without a copay. Decker, Hogan, Rushing, and Sanchez have joined her in support of this bill.

Higher Education:

Massachusetts has been under-investing in higher education for years, leading to higher tuition costs and spiraling student debt. Trump could make matters worse by reducing funding for higher education institutions and federal student aid, as well as by encouraging the expansion of predatory for-profit institutions.

Only one of the nine–Rep. Decker–has come out in support of making public colleges and universities tuition-free for Massachusetts residents. Rep. Arciero joins her in a strong, but less ambitious, goal of debt-free higher education.

Protecting the State’s Most Vulnerable:

Massachusetts has the opportunity to stand up to the federal deportation machine by passing the Safe Communities Act, which would prohibit the use of state resources for deportation raids and limit local and state police collaboration with federal immigration agents. The TRUST Act, its predecessor, stalled in committee year after year. But the necessity of the bill grows stronger each day.

Four out of the nine working group members are supporters of the Safe Communities Act–Cabral, Decker, Rushing, and Sanchez.

We can look back to last session for insights into the working group. Four out of the nine members of the committee matched the Speaker vote-by-vote on our scorecard of the last session (Arciero, Cabral, Haddad, Hogan). Two of them were more conservative than the Speaker (Mariano, Murphy), and three were more progressive (Decker, Rushing, Sanchez).

The House doesn’t take many roll call votes, but some can be illustrative. Last July, for example, the House voted to make state-issued IDs compliant with the federal REAL ID law per request of Governor Baker (H.4488). Real ID’s strict documentation requirements make getting a state-issued ID more difficult for the young, the elderly, trans individuals, people of color, the poor, and many legal immigrants. H.4488 also forestalled efforts to allow undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses, something which–unlike REAL ID–would increase public safety.

Decker, Rushing, and Sanchez sided with Massachusetts’s vulnerable populations. The other six sided with the Governor.

Massachusetts Democrats often talk a good game about opposing Trump.

But will they put their priorities and votes where their mouths are this session?

Worcester: Rally in Solidarity with Immigrants

Progressive Worcester endorses tonight’s rally in support of the immigrant and refugee community. 

Please show up in solidarity and reject the toxic policies of Trumpism from creeping into Worcester. After the Rally, see it through, stay for the City Council meeting. City Council must hear from you. 

And remember,

We can take action as a state. But the Legislature must act.

The Legislature can pass the Safe Communities act, to establish ‘sanctuary’ in Massachusetts, and protect vulnerable communities under Trump’s coming policies. Right now, Legislators are choosing which bills they will choose to highlight with their co-sponsorship.

Tell your State Rep and State Senator to co-sponsor the Safe Communities Act,  and to push a bold progressive agenda — to resist, to protect the vulnerable, to build a stronger future with shared prosperity and justice for all.  Rally. Show Solidarity at the Council meeting. Send a message to your legislator for #SafeCommunities.

RALLY DETAILS


We urge everyone to come out and support our immigrant and refugee community and tell Worcester City Councilors to reject Councilor Gaffney’s anti-refugee, anti-immigrant City Council proposal. 

Worcester will not be bullied into turning in our undocumented neighbors, friends, families, young people, and coworkers. We expect that our elected officials remain committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of all members of this community, regardless of their citizenship status. We urge our fellow community members to stand in solidarity with all those fleeing persecution, poverty and violence. Worcester cannot be a welcoming community for some of us, while turning its back on others.  

Location: City Hall 
Day, time: Tuesday, January 31st from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the rally at 6pm today. A Declared Parking Ban is in effect for Worcester beginning at 2pm. 
Organized by Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Worcester. 

Endorsed by: 
350 Central MA 
ACLU of Central Massachusetts 
American Muslim Democratic Caucus 
Black Lives Matter Worcester 
Carpenters 107 
Casa Cultural Dominicana de Worcester 
Central Massachusetts AFL-CIO 
Christian Community Church 
Clark University Geographical Society (PhD Students) 
Educational Association of Worcester 
EnjoinGood.org 
 Episcopal Churches of Worcester (ECOW) 
Ex-Prisoners and Prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA) 
HOPE Coalition 
Just Paint Studio 
Main South Community Development Corporation (CDC) 
Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office 
Massachusetts Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State 
Massachusetts Human Rights Committee 
Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition Central Region 
Mosaic Cultural Complex 
Muslim Community Link 
NAACP 
New England VegFest 
Progressive Worcester  
SEIU Local 32BJ 
SEIU Local 509 
SEIU Local 1199 
The Sierra Club 
SS. Francis Therese Catholic Workers 
Socialist Alternative 
South East Asian Coalition 
Stone Soup 
Temple Emanuel Sinai 
Transformative Culture Project 
UFCW 1445 
UNITE HERE! 
VegWorcester 
Worcester Common Ground 
Worcester Community Labor Coalition  
Worcester Interfaith 
Worcester Islamic Center 
Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP) 
YWCA of Central Massachusetts 

JP Progressives: Progressivism during Trump

By Maddie Howard

We’re all here and prepared to fight,” Leda Anderson of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts emphasized to a standing-room-only crowd assembled in Jamaica Plain’s First Baptist Church last Thursday.

On January 12th, JP Progressives, a Jamaica Plain community group (and chapter of Progressive Mass) that frequently hosts political events and mobilizes volunteers for campaigns and issues, hosted “Progressivism During Trump,” a panel of experienced activists moderated by Mass Alliance (Progressive Mass is a coalition member) founding director Georgia Hollister Isman. Intended to galvanize post-election urgency into specific action, this event brought established progressive groups together to provide plans of action and field questions from community members late into the evening.

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 Despite some of the groups assembled being ostensibly apolitical, many made it clear that their fundamental missions were opposed to the imminent political atmosphere. “We are anti-racist and we are anti-oppression,” Boston NAACP president Tanisha Sullivan remarked, “and that’s all I’m going to say.”

“We have changed all of our agenda,” Liza Ryan of The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition shared with the audience, clarifying that MIRA is pushing offense as opposed to defense in advocating for their partner organizations under this administration.

Though national politics naturally loomed large in the conversation, much of the actions discussed were on the local level. Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty program of the ACLU Massachusetts, called for support for the state Trust Act (a bill prohibiting local law enforcement from detaining undocumented immigrants purely for their status), emphasizing the importance of pressuring the mayor, DA, and police. Dick Clapp of 350 Massachusetts and Boston Climate Action Network mentioned hosting house meetings in support of the Community Choice Energy Plan, an initiative to provide more of Massachusetts’ energy from renewable sources.

In response to a question about what threats progressive movements are likely to face, Anderson noted that this is the “first time in a really long time that anti-abortion politicians have controlled both houses & the White House.” Over the next four years, patients on Medicaid could be prevented from accessing the services provided by Planned Parenthood; about 30% of patients in Massachusetts rely on Medicaid now. The currently vacant supreme court seat means a risk of Roe v. Wade being repealed. Sullivan brought up the “sense of empowerment, of liberation by some who have been living in the shadows…that says that it is OK to be racist…we have to be committed to really working hard to stay vigilant on issues of race.” Ryan added the simple fact that due process is under threat, specifically in the case of undocumented immigrants and families. Expedited deportations with no hearing and unlawful detainment are just some of the problems these families encounter.

Despite naming the risks, the panelists and attendees retained optimism and hope for the future. “We like to call ourselves freedom’s law firm,” Crockford said of the ACLUM, calling for citizens to become doubly involved and not “sit out politics.” Ryan called for intersectional organizing and coalition building across issues: “We have to unify to win…Share narratives and work on messaging together. We can’t be divided; your issue is my issue. Get out of your comfort zone.”

The panelists recommended many specific actions to support their institutions and get involved. See below for a sampling of these actions.

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  • ACLUM: Donate to ACLUM.org, and follow on social media. Sign up for email alerts.
  • Planned Parenthood: attend the Million Woman March. Join for Sexual Health Lobby Day on January 31st. Visit pplmvotes.org to sign up for email updates.
  • 350 Mass: Join the node meeting that meets at the First Church in Jamaica Plain.
  • MIRA: Visit miracoalition.org for ways to help.
  • NAACP: Donate your talent & time; what skills do you have to contribute? What is the one issue that gets your blood boiling? If there is an org already working on that, how might you contact them?

You can review questions audience members asked the panelists at this link: www.slido.com Be Sociable, Share!