It was a music-filled morning on Beacon Hill as guitarists played music, performers from Haiti danced with colorful skirts and headscarves and singers from Boston Missionary Baptist Community Center sang religious hymns.
Hundreds of people gathered in the State House to celebrate recent legislative gains, advocate for bills that could combat President Donald Trump’s wave of executive orders and, most of all, welcome and celebrate immigrants in a state where immigrants make up about 20% of the workforce. Soon after the event, hundreds of advocates flocked to legislators’ offices to promote bills they want to see become law.
Such legislation includes the Safe Communities Act, which would prevent local law enforcement from doing the work of federal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act, which would help provide immigrants at risk of deportation with legal representation, funded through the state.
“It has never been more critical that the Legislature passes the Safe Communities Act to protect vulnerable immigrants who come to Massachusetts to work, raise families and contribute to their communities,” Sen. Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat from Marlborough, told the crowd Wednesday. “This bill will also ensure that local law enforcement can focus on public safety rather than acting as an arm of federal immigration enforcement. When trust between police and immigrant communities is lost, the safety of the entire commonwealth is at risk.”
One of his own constituents could have benefited from the bill.
Lucas Dos Santos Amaral was detained by ICE during a traffic stop in January, mistaken for another individual and then detained due to an expired visa, GBH News first reported . With no criminal record, his was one of the first public cases of an undocumented immigrant being detained by ICE, and he has since been released . He and his family were at the State House Wednesday.
“It’s the story of thousands of families who live in fear every day to keep families who love this country, work hard, pay taxes and contribute in every way to the fabric of this nation. Families who, like mine, simply wanted a chance to stay together in this country,” his wife, Suyanne Boechat Amaral, said. Dos Santos Amaral, who speaks primarily Brazilian Portuguese, stood behind her holding their 3-year-old daughter.
Now the young father is back to his painting business, his daughter, and wife, as they wait to welcome another baby.
“I’m happy with my girls, with God. ... I’m still scared. Because I never went to jail [before]. All of this is new to me — this is my second chance,” said Dos Santos Amaral in an interview with GBH News.
Advocates also recalled recent legislative victories, such as the driver’s license law that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses starting in 2023. Another is the Physician Pathway Act, signed into law in November, which addresses acute physician shortages by allowing internationally trained physicians to have a pathway to full licensure in Massachusetts.
Among the most recent arrivals, many fleeing Haiti, Mass. Secretary of Labor & Workforce Development Lauren Jones told the crowd that more than 6,300 people have received work permits in the commonwealth. That includes more than 4,800 current or former shelter residents who’ve found jobs in high-demand fields like health care, human services and senior care.
“We must use this momentum to show the nation that Massachusetts will firmly oppose hate and tirelessly fight for immigrant rights,” said Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the MIRA Coalition, an advocacy group for immigrants and refugees.
Advocates also took the 29th annual Immigrants’ Day at the State House to reflect on the past and acknowledge the uncertainty of the future. Tri Tran, director of policy for the women’s social services organization Rosie’s Place, recounted his own family’s journey to the United States as they fled Vietnam. He recalled how his father, a solider who worked with the U.S. government, begged the embassy to send more helicopters to evacuate crowds as April 30, 1975, approached.
“His prayers were answered. Safe aboard a crowded helicopter, he watched his homeland fade into the horizon as he flew into the uncertainty of making a new home,” Tran said.
Tran described how the Boston community helped his family settle and shared a message for immigrants in Massachusetts.
“Despite everything going on in Washington, I want you to know this: You are seen. You are heard. You are understood,” he said. “You are loved, and you belong here.”
