If you wish to connect with the Task Force, please email hollistonimmigrationjustice@gmail.com. (Please note, the address in the last newsletter was incorrect!)
As we previously shared, 4.9 % of Holliston residents, about 730 people, are undocumented immigrants. This does not include those who work in Holliston or travel through Holliston every day.
If you are a community member with uncertain immigration status, we want you to know that we are here to support you.
If you are a community member who is a U.S. citizen, we want to offer you opportunities to support your undocumented neighbors.
Diverse Holliston has joined with a group of other local organizations to form the Holliston Immigration Justice Task Force (HIJTF) as a conduit for information about what is happening in Metro West as well as a place for immigrants to either get direct assistance or referrals to services to help them navigate these challenges. In addition, the Task Force will track relevant legislation, and educate Holliston residents about opportunities to weigh in.
Although the current federal administration often claims that people who immigrate to the United States are associated with criminal behavior, research overwhelmingly shows that immigrants have lower rates of both violent and non-violent crime than do U.S. citizens (Moore, et. al, 2021). Entering the U.S. without permission carries a civil, not a criminal, penalty. Although the current federal administration claims that they are focused on detaining immigrants who engage in or have engaged in criminal behavior, it has become obvious that many law-abiding immigrants are being detained.
Sadly, this is true in Metro West as well as other parts of Massachusetts. Homeland Security does not report the number of immigrants who have no criminal history that are being detained and deported. They list the most egregious criminals to get support for their policies. If you have uncertain immigration status, be aware that you can be swept up in an immigration raid, especially if you are in the vicinity of those who have a history of arrest or of associating with those who have been arrested.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
Know Your Rights
If you are a community member with uncertain immigration status, it is important to know and try to exercise your rights. Diverse Holliston is printing up Know Your Rights posters that will be distributed around town. We also have Know Your Rights cards in Spanish and Portuguese with English on the reverse side. (Other languages are available on the internet). These can be handed to a law enforcement officer or an ICE agent should you encounter one, instead of speaking. If they come to your home, you can slide the card under the door. Do not open the door. You should also memorize telephone numbers of CASA, our local immigrant organization, (508-532-0575) and of MetroWest Legal Services (508-620-1830). If you email the HIJTF, we will arrange to get you some cards. Community members are also needed to help us put up posters and distribute cards.
We should all educate ourselves about our rights. Please watch these short videos . They will show you what to do if approached by ICE and also how you can help if you observe someone being approached by ICE without breaking any laws. Diverse Holliston will sponsor “Know Your Rights Training for Allies” sometime in the near future. Please make your best effort to attend.
Volunteer
The Metro West area is lucky to have an immigrant-led organization in Framingham that has worked with immigrants for many years, the Metro West Worker Center or CASA.
The HIJTF is a key partner in Casa Allies, an adjunct group working to organize allies in MetroWest to support Casa’s needs. You are welcome to join the Casa allies bi-weekly zoom meetings on Thursdays at 5:30pm. Please email the HIJTF for information on how to connect.
Casa Allies also organizes trainings to help allies build important skills to more effectively support and protect our immigrant neighbors. The next one is an important ‘legal defense’ training on what to do if you encounter ICE or police trying to execute a detainment — what’s legal and safe to do, how you can help someone assert their rights and connect them with help, and how to be an upstander in actively supporting our immigrant neighbors. That training will happen on Wed, April 2 from 5:30 to 7 PM. Please email the HIJTF to participate.
CASA will need volunteers to do many things in the coming days. Currently, the most urgent need is to drive children to and from school because parents are afraid that they will be picked up by ICE while doing this or because their parents have already been detained. If you wish to do this, please email the HIJTF and we will connect you.
The other urgent need is for volunteers to accompany, witness and help immigrants to navigate various systems. This includes the immigration process, the legal system, school system, healthcare, and others. It usually involves driving people to appointments. You do not need to be bilingual and you do not need to know anything in particular. You are just there as a support person, to help them navigate the system, the same way you would if it were your own appointment.
Because some people are unable to go to work for fear of ICE raids, there will soon be needs for fundraising and food distribution. We will keep you informed about what is available and what you can do.
If you are interested in volunteering for these or other activities, complete this form to get started. Once completed, you’ll be offered training and gain access to a list of upcoming appointments where accompaniment is needed — you can then sign up as you’re available.
Donate
CASA needs to raise immediate funds for direct support to immigrant families affected by workplace injury / unjust labor practices, ongoing housing, legal and other crises including the recent wave of ICE intimidation and detention in our communities. The recent circumstances have destabilized the lives of many people.
Your generous donations will go directly to families & individuals requiring:
- Housing support
- Meals and food
- Medical care
- Transportation to work, school, and important appointments
- Legal support
- Crisis support and comfort items
- And the everyday needs now made difficult by a devastating situation.
Tax deductible donations can be made on Casa’s Fundrazer Page
Advocate for Laws to Support our Immigrant Neighbors
There are a number of bills in the Massachusetts State House that would make our communities safer and more equitable, in particular for immigrants. Please call or write our legislators to let them know you want them to both co-sponsor and advocate for the passage of these bills.
- An Act to Prevent Immigration Detention and Collaborative Agreements: HD.3596/SD. 1107: Bans two types of contracts between state and local law enforcement and ICE: one allows state and local law enforcement to be deputized as ICE agents and the other allows sheriffs to rent bed space for immigration detention.
- An Act to Protect the Civil Rights and Safety of All Massachusetts Residents HD. 3816/SD. 1670: The “Safe Communities” act would prohibit law enforcement from asking about immigration staus, protect basic rights similar to the “Miranda warning”, protect access to justice in our courts, and end contracts with state (287g) that allow law enforcement to act as immigration agents.
- An Act Ensuring Access to Equitable Representation in Immigration Proceedings HD.4072/SD. 2057: Establishes an Immigrant Legal Defense Fund for individuals facing deportation, public and private funding, and reimbursement for coordinator, non-profit and private attorneys.
- An Act To Protect Injured Workers HD.706/SD. 466: Prohibits employers from discharging, refusing to hire, or discriminating against or taking adverse action against any person seeking care for work-related injuries. This would trengthen the existing law by allowing the Attorney General to enforce complaints of misconduct or retaliation and giving employees the ability to collect damages.
- An Act to prevent wage theft, promote employer accountability, and enhance public enforcement HD.1828/SD.1802: Toughens current laws to prevent wage theft and ensure better enforcement mechanisms.