Boston UUs join immigrant rights delegation to present report on failed ICE program
L-to-R: Derek Mitchell, UU Holdeen India Program Director; Rev. Terry Burke of First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist; Alex Kapitan, UUA Congregational Justice Administrator
On Tuesday, August 16th, in support of a national day of action organized by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), Unitarian Universalists joined local organizations to personally deliver a copy of NDLON’s groundbreaking report about the failure of the Secure Communities (S-COMM) program to Boston-based politicians. The report, entitled “RESTORING COMMUNITY: A National Community Advisory Report on ICE’s Failed “Secure Communities” Program,” has been endorsed by the UUA and includes a statement from UUA President Rev. Peter Morales. More than twenty people, including Rev. Terry Burke of First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, and UUA staffers Audra Friend, Alex Kapitan, and Derek Mitchell joined immigrant rights groups at Boston City Hall to present copies of the report to Mayor Menino’s staff as well as the Boston city councilors.
Rev. Burke was invited to offer a prayer while the delegation met with the staff of Boston’s city councilors. “We pray for the families of our city, especially our immigrant families,” he said. “We pray that they may be safe from fear, that this program may be ended; that there may be justice in our city. Amen.”
After the reports were distributed to the Boston city councilors, the delegation made the short walk from Boston City Hall to the Massachusetts State House.
Members of Gov. Patrick’s staff met the delegation at the State House and accepted the report. Rev. Burke spoke with members of the Governor’s Community Affairs staff on behalf of the faith community (see video), calling on Governor Patrick as a person of faith to heed the call to remain out of S-COMM.
On Friday, August 5, Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that they were rescinding all their agreements with the states regarding their implementation of the S-COMM Program, and that they would require the states to implement it, even if they had opted out. S-COMM is an ICE/DHS program which automatically sends fingerprints taken by local law enforcement to ICE. Hundreds of people in Massachusetts have been reported to ICE under S-COMM and deported, and a majority of them were charged with minor crimes and infractions or weren’t charged with any crime at all. (See Saturday’s Boston Globe article.)
Governor Patrick has told ICE that he will not sign Massachusetts onto the program. However, the City of Boston is part of the program and has served as a pilot site since 2006. Mayor Menino is now considering pulling Boston out of the program and is being urged by immigrant rights groups to do so.
