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Boston Globe
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘Silent and hiding': ICE actions at courthouses creating climate of fear for immigrants, advocates say
'This creates tremendous fear for people in immigrant communities, and not just those who are undocumented,' said Amy Grunder, director of state government affairs for the MIRA Coalition, a Boston-based immigrant and refugee advocacy group. That's because many immigrant families have some members here legally and others here without authorization, Grunder said. Parents detained at court may have children who are citizens; victims may have undocumented relatives who witnessed a crime, but could be detained if they show up to testify. 'The greatest fear of every parent is the risk of family separation,' Grunder said. Advertisement ICE did not return a request for comment. Under the Trump administration, ICE ended Biden-era restrictions on immigration enforcement at 'protected areas' such as courthouses that were intended to serve as a buffer between the local criminal justice system and federal immigration policies. Instead, ICE issued a Advertisement In one high profile case, an ICE agent arrested a man in the middle of his criminal trial, drawing fury from Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville. Summerville found the agent in contempt of court after ICE refused to return the defendant to face trial. In late April, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said he could not legally charge the federal agent, but criticized ICE for interfering with the local justice system. ICE's actions have discouraged immigrants from participating in the criminal justice system, according to Jim Borghesani, a spokesman for the Suffolk District Attorney's Office. 'We have had numerous cases where witnesses or victims or family members have told us they fear moving forward on their cases because of their fear of ICE,' Borghesani wrote in an email. Tanvi Verma, a Boston-based public defender with the Committee for Public Counsel Services, said she had clients take plea deals because they were so afraid of showing up inside a courthouse, even though any conviction could put them on ICE's radar. And it has sometimes led to bizarre scenarios such as defense attorneys deliberately 'This is a bad scenario for everyone,' said Zachary Cloud, a supervising public defender with CPCS in Roxbury. 'No one walks away from this with a better justice system as a result.' The effect of those fears extends beyond criminal prosecutions, advocates said. For instance, the specter of courthouse detention is making some immigrant workers afraid to take legal action against abusive employers, said Heloisa Maria Galvão, executive director of the Brazilian Women's Group, a Boston-based nonprofit that advocates for Brazilian immigrants. Advertisement Galvão said she knows workers who had their wages stolen but are afraid to file small claims suits against their employer because of ICE enforcement. 'People that have any complaint about violations of workers rights, they are very hesitant to go forward,' Galvão said. 'They prefer to lose the money.' One undocumented Brazilian worker, a house painter who lives in Allston, told the Globe he was owed $2,600 from an owner who was flipping a property and had not paid him for a recent job. He said he chose to not file a small claims suit, in part because he is worried going to court would put him at risk for detention. 'I'm afraid about that because of everything that is going on right now with the administration,' said the worker, who spoke under the condition of anonymity because of fears of being targeted by immigration authorities. 'I feel like I'm going to give up.' For 30 years, Galvão's organization has encouraged Brazilian immigrants to advocate for themselves and assert their legal rights, she said. The current climate of fear is undermining that progress. 'It took us all this time to inform, to educate, to empower. To make their voices heard,' Galvão said. 'Now people are just getting silent and hiding, and I don't blame them.' The Office of Attorney General Andrea Campbell said it does not ask about immigration status when workers file labor complaints, and does not voluntarily share personal information with ICE. Advertisement 'The federal administration has incited fear, fueled distrust in government and wrongly pushed our law-abiding immigrants into the shadows,' Campbell said in a statement. 'I encourage all workers to know their rights and contact the AG's Office when they believe these rights have been violated.' Advocates who work in domestic violence cases are particularly concerned, they said: Victims who are immigrants are especially vulnerable as they may be unwilling to report abuse because of their immigration status. They may wish to call 911 during an assault, but may not want their offender, who is perhaps the co-parent of their children, to be arrested and face the punishment of deportation. They may want to ask a judge for a protection order or to press criminal charges, but fear that doing so could expose them to ICE agents waiting at the courthouse. Each choice requires victims to make a 'safety risk analysis,' said Amanda Walsh, a deputy director for the Victim Rights Law Center, a Boston-based nonprofit that provides legal services for survivors of domestic violence. 'If I go in to testify, I may never come home. I may never see my kids again,' Walsh said. 'Or are my family also witnesses? Am I not just putting myself at risk of being deported, but my children, my parents, my colleagues, my roommates?' Those dilemmas have worsened since Trump's inauguration and can backfire on public safety efforts, especially the work to help those most impacted, said Ren Liu, communications and outreach manager for Jane Doe Inc., a Boston-based domestic violence advocacy organization. 'That is something that is really dangerous because we know that abuse thrives in silence,' Liu said. Advertisement Dan Glaun can be reached at
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How a Mass. group is fighting Trump cutting assistance for legal green card holders
After a loss of federal funding forced the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition to shut down its citizenship assistance programming, the organization has joined a national lawsuit against the Trump administration. The Boston-based coalition, known as MIRA, lost $300,000 in funding from the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program in late January after the Department of Homeland Security terminated all related grants. MIRA had to immediately cease citizenship application assistance, at the time saying that hundreds of immigrants would now be forced to navigate the 'daunting and costly citizenship application process without the support of qualified, trained experts.' Last week, the organization joined other immigrant-serving organizations in a national lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security demanding that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reinstate the funding that supports green card holders on their path to citizenship. Read more: 'Betrayal of the American promise': Trump admin. cuts citizenship assistance in Mass. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland, Solutions in Hometown Connections et al. v. Noem et al., argues the Trump administration unjustly stripped MIRA of $300,000. The MIRA Coalition currently has 174 open naturalization cases for clients and insufficient funding to pay for those representation services, the lawsuit states. Elizabeth Sweet, MIRA Coalition's executive director, said the organization was proud to join the fight against the Trump administration after it 'wrongfully cut off hundreds of thousands of dollars in previously allocated funding that assists green card holders who legally reside in the U.S. apply for citizenship.' 'Immigrants who have lived and worked in the U.S. deserve support in navigating the confusing, expensive and lengthy citizenship application process and we will not turn our backs on them now,' she said. 'We look forward to making our case in court alongside immigrant-serving organizations from across the country.' According to the lawsuit, the grant program has helped more than 350,000 lawful permanent residents nationwide prepare for citizenship since 2009. A senior official at the Department of Homeland Security previously told MassLive that USCIS had terminated all grants awarded through the Citizenship and Integration Grant Program because 'taxpayer-funded programs that support, or have the potential to support, illegal immigration' are 'out of step' with the administration's priorities. The official further claimed without evidence that organizations funded by USCIS grants 'actively undermined the rule of law and integrity of our nation's immigration system by supporting sanctuary cities and open borders.' Citizenship assistance helps immigrants who already have permanent legal status and wish to become full U.S. citizens. ICE raids wrong home as 'traumatized' family explains they are citizens 'Un-American': Free speech groups petition judge to order Rümeysa Öztürk's release Boston prepares for fight after Trump signs order threatening sanctuary cities Mass. schools boss: Immigration chill leading to 'extended absences' Rümeysa Öztürk's return to Vermont delayed by federal appeals court
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Betrayal of the American promise': Trump admin. cuts citizenship assistance in Mass.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has officially cut $300,000 in funding dedicated to citizenship application assistance in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition announced the formal funding loss on Tuesday. U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem originally announced a blanket freeze on all grants to nonprofits in late January. But the coalition had been hopeful the money would be reinstated. It was granted last year and intended to run through September 2026. When the funds were initially suspended, the Massachusetts organization had to immediately cease citizenship application assistance, saying hundreds of immigrants would now be forced to navigate the 'daunting and costly citizenship application process without the support of qualified, trained experts.' Currently, the MIRA Coalition's website reads: 'UPDATE: WE CURRENTLY DON'T HAVE ANY CITIZENSHIP CLINICS SCHEDULED, AND UNFORTUNATELY WE ARE ALSO NOT ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS. Please check back with us at a later time.' Read more: How many visas could get canceled? Nearly 1 in 5 Mass. college students need them In response to the official funding cut, the group's executive director, Elizabeth Sweet, said Tuesday that 'abandoning' green card holders who are pursuing U.S. citizenship 'is a betrayal of the American promise so many of them - and the American people - believe in.' 'Making it harder for hundreds of longtime, law-abiding, hard-working Green Card holders to secure U.S. citizenship is unfortunately just the latest in the Trump administration's long list of anti-immigrant actions,' Sweet said. 'The hundreds of Green Card holders that participated in our citizenship program work tirelessly, pay taxes, and now, are on the cusp of earning the right to vote.' USCIS did not immediately return a request for comment. Read more: Mass. immigration lawyer, a US citizen, ordered by DHS to leave the country The MIRA Coalition is the largest coalition in New England advocating for immigrant rights and has historically helped green card holders navigate the complexities of applying for citizenship through free clinics, office visits and one-on-one support. Staff members and volunteers guided people through the naturalization form, provided final application reviews and kept copies of personal documents on hand at their office. As of 2022, there were approximately 249,870 green card holders living in Massachusetts who were eligible to become U.S. citizens, data from the MIRA Coalition show. Other citizenship class providers around the state are listed on the MIRA Coalition's website. The loss of funding comes as the Trump administration has enacted a wave of student visa revocations across the country, impacting several colleges and universities in Massachusetts. Attorneys in Massachusetts are also reporting receiving emails from the Department of Homeland Security telling them to leave the U.S. despite having citizenship. 2nd Mass. attorney confirms receiving email to leave US despite citizenship Mass. immigration lawyer, a US citizen, ordered by DHS to leave the country Springfield offers 'welcome' but not 'sanctuary' to undocumented residents What to know about SEVIS, the only way colleges find out student visas are canceled Detained grad student Mahmoud Khalil can be deported, immigration judge says
