Latest news with #JuliaMejia
Boston Globe
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson thanks staff, constituents at final council meeting
Advertisement 'I thank you from the bottom of my heart,' said Fernandes Anderson. 'I came into this role the same way I leave it — in service, in the spirit of accountability, in the name of dignity, and always, always in the belief that real power rests with the people. To my constituents in District 7, thank you. You are the beating heart of the city. You are the reason I fought." Related : Several of her colleagues also spoke before the body to thank her for her service and express appreciation for their time working together. 'Thank you for your leadership, thank you for your emotional intelligence, thank you for your rawness,' said a visibly emotional Councilor Julia Mejia. 'In this chamber in particular, you bring your full wrath into the space and your full heart for the people that you love, and that takes a lot of courage to do, especially in this political climate that we're in.' Advertisement Fernandes Anderson broke several barriers when she was first elected to the council in 2021, becoming the first Muslim, the first formerly undocumented person, and the first African immigrant to serve on the body. She quickly became known for being a vocal advocate for social justice and racial equity issues on the council. She also was involved in some controversies. In 2023, she paid a $5,000 fine for violating state ethics rules by hiring and then giving raises to her sister and son. In December, the news that The pair exchanged the money in cash in a City Hall bathroom, according to the federal indictment. In the wake of her arrest, She Advertisement Under state law, the council does not have the authority to remove a sitting councilor unless they have been sentenced for a felony conviction. In recent weeks, Fernandes Anderson has faced additional criticism for continuing to receive her taxpayer-funded, $120,000 annual salary after officially pleading guilty to federal charges. She's defended her decision to not step down sooner, saying she wanted to finish her transition plan for her constituents and her eventual successor. Fernandes Anderson on Wednesday celebrated completing that project: a hundreds of pages-long workbook that she described as a comprehensive guide to local government and everything about District 7. 'This is not sort of like just a handbook or the thing that you go to and just skim through pages, you can actually have tools and templates and worksheets in here to actually educate and support constituents, but also it is my baton for the next councilor,' she said. 'I pray and hope and wish the best of luck to [them].' According to the city charter, if a district councilor's seat becomes vacant more than 180 days before the next municipal election, it triggers the process of scheduling a special election to fill the seat. That deadline this year has passed, so Fernandes Anderson's position will remain vacant until her successor is decided in the November election. Niki Griswold can be reached at
Boston Globe
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Boston City Councilors defend pro-immigrant Trust Act as President Trump threatens funding cuts
Councilor Julia Mejia, another co-sponsor, praised Mayor Michelle Wu for 'standing up for immigrants,' and said she's heard from constituents who are essentially living in hiding due to fear of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdowns. 'They're not accessing healthcare. They're not sending their children to school. They're not going to work,' Mejia said. Advertisement The hearing came as President Donald Trump's administration has Trump's border czar Tom Homan promised to Following Wu's testimony, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee released a Council President Ruthzee Louijeune said the Trust Act benefits public safety by increasing trust between Boston police and immigrant communities. 'It doesn't prohibit the federal government from doing their job,' she said. 'It just focuses on what our job is.' And Councilor Ed Flynn described Boston as a 'city of immigrants,' while expressing hope that city police could maintain a good relationship with federal authorities to investigate major crimes. Advertisement 'We don't want to harm neighbors who have been here for generations as part of our community,' Flynn said. 'At the same time, it is also important that we ensure the safety of our city and our residents when it comes to serious and violent crimes . ' Amy Grunder, director of state government affairs with the Boston-based Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, credited the Trust Act with improving relations between immigrants and city government. 'It has done so much to build the confidence of Boston's immigrant communities in all of Boston's public institutions, not just law enforcement,' Grunder said. Trump administration officials have called on cities such as Boston to do more to assist their efforts for mass deportations, under the threat of federal funding cuts and even criminal and civil charges for public officials who interfere with those efforts. On his first day as president, Trump In 2017, the Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court issued a ruling that barred all local law enforcement from holding people based solely on civil detainer requests, which are communications from ICE asking a police department, court, or sheriff's office to continue to hold someone who they would otherwise release. Boston's Trust Act directly bars Boston Police from working on federal immigration enforcement, though police can work with ICE if criminal acts are involved. It also extends beyond the SJC ruling, prohibiting police from asking people about their immigration status or sharing an arrestee's release time with civil immigration authorities. Advertisement The City Council initially passed the Trust Act ordinance in 2014, strengthened the law in 2019 and reaffirmed it in a vote in December. But Trump did have some success blocking law enforcement and public safety grants — funding areas which could significantly affect Boston's violence reduction efforts. While federal grants are a small percentage of the Boston Police Department's $474 million budget, those funds pay for programs that Cox describes as vital: DNA testing to solve cold murder and rape cases, anti-gang and anti-terrorism intelligence and hardening against nuclear threats, among others. Last year, the Department of Homeland Security awarded nearly $12 million in Urban Area Security Initiative funds to promote security in Greater Boston, according to the state Office of Grants and Research. About $1 million of that money went to the Boston Police Department and another $1.9 million went to the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which supports local anti-gang and counterterrorism operations. Dan Glaun can be reached at
