More than 50 immigrants and advocates with snare drums, flags, and banners marched the roughly 25 miles from Framingham to Boston to highlight a push to provide driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, arriving at the State House the same day a pair of district attorneys filed a federal lawsuit to halt immigration arrests at courthouses.
Rallying on Beacon Street Monday afternoon, marchers who spoke in Spanish with a translator said their four-day trek was to call attention to the sacrifices made by migrants seeking to enter the United States.
They urged the Legislature's Transportation Committee to quickly hold a hearing on bills (S 2061, H 3012) that would allow people to apply for and obtain driver's licenses if they are unable to provide proof they are lawfully present in the country. The licenses would not be REAL ID-compliant, meaning they could not be used for air travel or to enter a federal building.
Li Adorno told the crowd that Moviemento Cosecha, which led the march, opted not to invite politicians to the event because they have not seen lawmakers act on the issue, first introduced in the 1990s.
"We are tired of the promises," he said.
"We want to hold both political parties accountable for their actions," Adorno said. "There is no secret that the Republican Party is anti-immigrant, but there is a common myth here in Massachusetts that the Democratic Party is somehow friendly towards us. That is not true. As an undocumented person myself, I can tell you that is not true."
Earlier Monday, county prosecutors Marian Ryan and Rachael Rollins filed a lawsuit in federal court against U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, seeking to have the agency's practice of arresting people while coming to, attending, or returning from court declared illegal.
The suit asks the court "to immediately enjoin ICE from conducting any more courthouse arrests."
According to the Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights, ICE's practice of arresting people for civil immigration matters at courthouses makes it more difficult to secure defendants' appearance in court and causes prosecutors to abandon cases because victims and witnesses are unwilling to appear.
"ICE's using state courthouses as a forum to conduct their enforcement work has struck fear in many of our most vulnerable, keeping them from accessing our courts. That is not justice. It does not make our communities safer," Middlesex District Attorney Ryan said. "What is clear to me is that in order to make meaningful and positive change, we all need to work together."
Said Rollins, the district attorney for Suffolk County, "Initiating a federal civil deportation prior to a criminal defendant being held accountable for the harm they caused in Suffolk County does nothing to serve the interest of justice or public safety. Instead, it creates an environment of fear and mistrust, and harms our entire community."
The suit comes four days after U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling announced the indictment of Newton District Court Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph and former court officer Wesley MacGregor on obstruction of justice charges, alleging they worked to allow a defendant to leave through a back door at the courthouse and avoid an ICE officer intending to detain him.
Martin Healy, the chief legal counsel and chief operating officer at the Massachusetts Bar Association, described the lawsuit as "unprecedented" and said it "reflects the escalating tensions between state and federal law caused by ICE's law enforcement activities around local courthouses.
"As demonstrated by the disruptions cited by both state prosecutors and public defenders, this strategy is not only interfering with the proper administration of justice, but also impeding the state's interest in enforcing its rule of law and chilling access to justice for defendants, witnesses and others with business before the state courts," Healy said.
The state public defender agency, the Committee for Public Counsel Services, and the community group the Chelsea Collaborative are also plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson released a statement blasting the suit, calling it "frivolous" and saying the lawyers and advocates should instead "be working with law enforcement instead of partnering with criminal illegal immigrants."
"ICE officers are federal law enforcement professionals who risk their lives day in and day out protecting our communities: Shame on anyone, especially elected officials sworn to protect their citizens, who sides with the lawbreakers over law enforcement," Hodgson said.
