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The vote came as Mayor Michelle Wu testified before Congress on immigration policies.
As Boston Mayor Michelle Wu testified in Washington about the city’s so-called sanctuary policies, immigration also played a major role in Wednesday’s City Council hearing.
Councilors passed two resolutions: one “in support of immigrant’s rights legislation” pending at the State House, and another “denouncing the rollback of temporary protected status” for Haitians, Venezuelans, and others. The former was approved with a 10-2 vote, while the latter was approved unanimously.
One councilor, Sharon Durkan, was absent. She flew to Washington to support Wu as the mayor fended off attacks from House Republicans and championed Boston’s immigration enforcement policies. Multiple councilors attended a rally on City Hall Plaza that was organized to show support for immigrants as Wu testified.
The resolution supporting the pending legislation concerned three bills: the Safe Communities Act, the Immigrant Legal Defense Act, and the Dignity Not Deportations Act. Councilor Julia Mejia, a co-sponsor of the resolution, called on her colleagues who frequently speak about the value of Boston’s immigrant community to back that sentiment up with a vote during Wednesday’s meeting.
“This moment is calling for bold political courage and for political integrity,” Mejia said. “This resolution declaring our support for bills that will provide basic protections of our immigrants is exactly the type of work that we should be doing.”
The Safe Communities Act would bar local police and court officials from questioning people about their immigration status, place some limits on cooperation between local police and ICE, and prohibit 287(g) contracts that deputize local law enforcement to act as federal immigration agents. It has similarities to the Boston Trust Act, which has been in place for years and was unanimously reaffirmed by City Council in December.
The Immigrant Legal Defense Act would establish a system where public and private dollars are used to pay for the legal fees of immigrants who are at “imminent risk” of deportation.
The Dignity Not Deportations Act would also target 287(g) agreements and prohibit Massachusetts officials, including sheriffs, from voluntarily renting beds to ICE.
Councilors Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn voted against the resolution. Both said they support immigrants, but took issue with the process surrounding the resolution. Murphy and Flynn said they wanted to learn more about the bills and how they would impact the city of Boston itself. They said that a City Council hearing should take place, and a vote on the resolution this week would be premature.
“I believe that this body deserves all the information it can get on all matters,” Murphy said. “A council meeting is not the time to discuss and ask questions, a hearing is the place.”
Councilor Enrique Pepén said he respected the perspectives of Murphy and Flynn but stressed that his colleagues needed to be aware of the “bigger message”: that the Trump administration’s actions are dangerous and that immigrants in Boston are extremely fearful.
“I encourage you to just do this with faith, do this with morality, with humanity,” Pepén told his colleagues. “There’s people in this city that are suffering at this moment, and we need to stand with them.”
At one point, Councilor Liz Breadon was interrupted by a member of the audience as she spoke about her support for the resolution and told the story of a constituent who was recently detained by ICE and separated from his family. Council President Ruthzee Louijeune called a recess so authorities could remove the heckler.
Louijeune, who was raised by Haitian immigrants, introduced the resolution denouncing termination of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants. She praised the efforts of Boston-based Lawyers for Civil Rights, a group that sued the Trump administration over its attempts to accelerate the termination of TPS status for those immigrants.
“To cancel TPS is a slap in the face of so many of our residents,” Louijeune said. “Racial animus is behind what we are seeing here.”
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