Massachusetts Families at Risk of Deportation Return to Statehouse, urge Senate Leaders to Move on MA Trust Act, Reject Unconstitutional ICE Detainers As Boston City Council gets behind local ordinance, civil rights groups urge a statewide solution I dont wish this on any more families says Marina Velazquez, whose husband was unjustly deported WHAT: Immigrants at risk of deportation come to Statehouse to ask for action on bill that would protect Massachusetts families from wrongful deportation, limit unconstitutional ICE detainers WHEN: 10:00AM Monday, July 14, 2014 WHERE: MA Statehouse (outside room 332), 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA Boston, MA, July 14, 2014-With momentum growing across the country to end unconstitutional ICE detainers, immigrant families and civil rights groups returned to the MA Statehouse to urge Senate Leaders to move a bill that would restore trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. Families are calling for movement on a state bill, the MA Trust Act, to provide a statewide solution to the fear caused by local law enforcements entanglement with ICE through the federal Secure Communities deportation program. MA would be the third state to take on such a policy, after CA and CT. To date over 130 localities have passed similar policies, three in the Commonwealth. My family has been destroyed. I dont wish this on any more families, says Marina Velazquez, a member of Springfield-based Just Communities and immigrant mother, whose husband was detained for months before being deported. If one could see what we are suffering, what families are suffering, there would be no more delay. Last Wednesday, Boston Councilmember Josh Zakim introduced a Boston Trust Ordinance to limit ICE detainers at the city level. The bill counted with the support of councilmembers present, many saying it was necessary to protect due process and ensure communities engagement with local police. ICE detainers, a part of the federal Secure Communities deportation dragnet, are requests from federal Immigration Enforcement (ICE) to local law enforcement to detain a person for extra time on the suspicion that they are deportable. Regularly issued without probable cause, they have been the subject of much controversy and most recently the subject of a federal court ruling in Oregon that their application is in violation of the 4th Amendment. National Contact: Salvador Sarmiento, NDLON, 202-746-2099 Local Contact: Patricia Montes, Centro Presente, 617-959-3108
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 13:46:52 +0000
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