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This is how local immigrant advocates and lawyers are preparing for Trump’s mass deportation plans
“We anticipate that immigration enforcement efforts could focus on states or communities perceived as immigrant-friendly, making Massachusetts a likely target.”
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‘This isn’t about me’: Wu hits back at Trump border czar Tom Homan over deportation rhetoric
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‘Either she helps us or gets the hell out of the way’: Trump’s border czar attacks Wu over comments on mass deportation plans
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Trump announces Tom Homan, former director of immigration enforcement, will serve as ‘border czar’
In the weeks before President-elect Donald Trump assumes office, Massachusetts immigrant advocates and lawyers are preparing to face the challenges they anticipate ahead.
On Day 1 in office, Trump has vowed to launch the “largest deportation program in American history.”
“I will rescue every city and town that has been invaded and conquered, and we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail, then kick them the hell out of our country as fast as possible,” the former president said at his Madison Square Garden rally in New York last month.
To carry out his objectives, Sarah Sherman-Stokes, associate director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic at Boston University, predicts the Trump administration will invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, primarily used during wartime, to empower the military to execute the large-scale deportation efforts.
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If enacted, immigration lawyers say they expect Trump’s policies to be felt across the country — some think with Massachusetts on the front lines.
Massachusetts has long been a focus of the migrant crisis, with an overflowing shelter system and migrants flown to the state. It is also home to several sanctuary cities, including Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, Springfield, Holyoke, and Amherst.
“We anticipate that immigration enforcement efforts could focus on states or communities perceived as immigrant-friendly, making Massachusetts a likely target,” Executive Director of Lawyers for Civil Rights Iván Espinoza-Madrigal recently told Boston.com.
‘Tremendous fear on the ground’
In the weeks following the election, Espinoza-Madrigal says there has already been “tremendous fear on the ground” in the immigrant community.
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“Part of what they’re doing is really trying to create a sense of terror within these communities to drive people further underground,” Sarang Sekhavat, chief of staff at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition, told Boston.com.
The fear stems in large part from the rhetoric Trump uses about immigrants, according to Rachel Benedict, an attorney for the Rian Immigration Center.
“The words themselves that Trump uses have a real effect and real impact on the people of Massachusetts,” she told Boston.com. “His words matter.”
Sekhavat said he foresees employers loosing members of their workforce, and some children might be without parents.
“How are you supposed to focus on school and building a life here if you don’t know what’s going to happen to your parents?” Benedict said.
Without a clear plan from the Trump administration, Sekhavat said there is a lot of “uncertainty” among both those serving the immigrant community and the immigrants themselves.
“Everyone’s just really worried right now,” he said. “People don’t know what their lives are going to be like.”
Preparations
Ahead of Inauguration Day, immigration legal service providers in Massachusetts are working around-the-clock fielding concerns from clients and working with local policymakers to strengthen immigrant protections in the state.
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Espinoza-Madrigal said his organization is in the process of assessing how local and state policies can be “sharpened” to make it more difficult to commandeer resources for immigration enforcement.
To achieve this, Espinoza-Madrigal said he is working with policymakers to “strengthen sanctuary policies and close loopholes.”
“Federal immigration enforcement is not the responsibility of local and state officials,” he said. “We need Boston and other cities to strongly commit to supporting migrants.”
That support from local governments, Espinoza-Madrigal said, can be tangibly felt by monitoring and training law enforcement officials and school districts to make sure that “our communities remain immigrant friendly.”
“Lawyers for Civil Rights urges state and local governments to provide regular training and oversight for law enforcement and school officials to prevent collusion or entanglement with immigration authorities,” he said.
Sekhavat said he is helping parents put plans in place for their children’s care in the event that they are taken by ICE.
“We’re trying to get those kind of materials out into the community so that these families can get the legal infrastructure in place for if the worst happens to them,” he said.
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Sekhavat said he also aims to educate “as many people as possible” about what their rights are.
“We don’t want people to be scared about the simple things like taking their kids to school, like going grocery shopping,” he said. “But at the same time, we do need to make sure that they are educated about both what policies could potentially mean for them and how to protect themselves.”
Attorney and co-founder of Mabel Center for Immigrant Justice Daniel Santiago said he has received many calls from individuals expressing concerns about their immigration cases and fears of deportation.
Both Santiago and Benedict said they have been filing as many cases as possible in the days before Trump takes office.
“It’s a lot of prep work for before the inauguration,” Santiago told Boston.com. “But we also anticipate there’s gonna be a lot of work afterwards.”
Mass. politicians pushback, but advocates want more
States can resist cooperating with the federal government by refusing to detain immigrants in their communities, and by preventing local police from working with federal immigration authorities, Sherman-Stokes told Boston.com.
“We would like to see our law enforcement focusing on their their priorities, on their mission, which is criminal law enforcement and not getting involved in this civil law enforcement around immigration,” Sekhavat said.
In many cases in Boston, an existing law prevents local police from cooperating with ICE enforcement.
“The idea that certain local law enforcement agencies will be required, or will be expected, to participate in mass deportations of residents who have not been part of serious criminal activity just to fulfill this campaign promise, this is not something that is possible under the laws in Boston,” Wu said on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” last week.
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Tom Homan, Trump’s appointed “border czar,” responded to Wu’s comments on Newsmax on Monday, saying, “Either she helps us or gets the hell out of the way because we’re going to do it.”
“Democrats’ preference towards pandering to their most extreme base is putting residents at risk,” MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale said in a statement about Wu’s recent comments. “This policy is out of control and completely nonsensical.”
Nevertheless, Gov. Maura Healey echoed Wu’s plans in a recent interview on MSNBC, saying she will ensure that the Massachusetts State Police will not cooperate with Trump’s deportation plans either, Boston.com previously reported. Healey said she supports using resistance through the state’s regulatory authority, her executive powers, and state legislation.
However, Sherman-Stokes says Healey’s stated resistance is not enough. The last remaining ICE contract in the state to detain migrants at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility — accused of “inhumane conditions” — has yet to be canceled.
“Advocates have repeatedly asked the state to cancel that contract, but it lies around like a loaded weapon to be expanded as soon as Trump takes office,” she said.
Sherman-Stokes said she wants the state to implement more protections for non-citizens to counteract the potential impact on Massachusetts’ immigrant population.
“I would like to see the state of Massachusetts and elected officials in Massachusetts making sure that we provide housing to all non-citizens so that they are safe and not on the streets as sitting ducks for ICE arrest and enforcement,” she said.
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Espinoza-Madrigal said he wants more action behind politicians’ words.
“The public statements we have seen are helpful, but we need significantly more,” he said. “Monitoring and training are critical, and we haven’t seen enough of that at the local or state level.”
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