4 days ago
Senator Elizabeth Warren shares support for immigrant communities during visit to Chelsea's La Colaborativa
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'Donald Trump is doing everything he can to make life miserable for Chelsea and communities like Chelsea,' Warren told residents who gathered with her at a roundtable to share their stories. But Democrats are 'pushing hard back on him,' she said.
She said was working to raise awareness about the consequences of ICE raids, and to help shield existing immigration legal protections. She said she was also trying to restore federal funding for health care and other services for communities like Chelsea.
The administration's immigration policies have been 'devastating,'
Senator Elizabeth Warren listens to a staff member of La Colaborativa during a community round table.
Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Some business owners told Warren that their sales were down and they were having trouble hiring workers due to
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Doris Reina-Landaverde,
She is among the roughly 1 million people who were once shielded from deportation
under a humanitarian program that allows immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and other countries to live and work in the US. The Trump administration is
A mother of three children who grew up in the US, Reina-Landaverde worked for years as a custodian at Harvard University. She said she isn't sure what's next for her family, or for her fellow TPS holders.
'TPS holders are more vulnerable,' Reina-Landaverde said. 'Because they [immigration authorities] know our address, they can find us.'
Warren listened intently. 'We are in this fight together,' Warren told her. 'I have been a long supporter of TPS, I understand how important it is.'
Inside the La Colaborativa Survival Center, the hub of the organization's operations,
Warren stopped by the kitchen where young adults were cooking
mofongo
(a Puerto Rican dish cooked with plantain), the back patio where seniors were immersed in a game of Bingo, and
el mercado
― a pantry with fresh food ― where staff were sorting fruits and vegetables.
'This is a woman who fights for immigrants,' Vega said in Spanish to a class of more than a dozen adults who were working on job applications in the computer lab. They responded with cheers and applause; Warren had helped them secure funding for this very building, Vega said.
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Warren said she had visited
Warren was was struck by the perpetual anxiety that many she met that day lived with, she said: That their loved ones could be
'That's not how people should live,' Warren said. 'These are people who want to protect and regularize their legal status; people who want to be a part of the best of this country. To turn them away is not only cruel, it's making us a poorer nation.'
Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at
