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    • Immigrants and activists in Massachusetts prepare for the next Trump presidency
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    Immigrants and activists in Massachusetts prepare for the next Trump presidency

    Umito Posted on

    On a normal evening, attendees at the Community Workers Center’s weekly meeting in New Bedford want to talk about workplace issues. But on the Wednesday after Donald Trump won his bid for president, the nonprofit’s director, Adrian Ventura, found himself advising the group on their rights as immigrants.

    “What should you do if they knock on your door?” » he asked the group, made up mostly of Mayan immigrants from Guatemala, in Spanish. “Don’t open it. And if you are arrested by the police, you have the right to remain silent and tell them you have a lawyer. »

    For decades, New Bedford’s Mayan immigrants have been a vital source of labor in the textile mills, construction sites, and seafood processing plants that support the fishing port’s largest fishing port. most lucrative in the country.

    And they are familiar with immigration controls. In 2007, federal agents raided a garment factory and arrested 361 workers.

    The city hasn’t seen a raid of this scale since then, but Ventura said Trump’s election revived old fears.

    Just hours after the election, Ventura said, a local employee told him she had been bullied by a co-worker who said the new presidency meant her days in the United States were numbered .

    Throughout his campaign, Trump attempted to link immigrants to crime and pledged to work with local police to arrest those in the country illegally.

    Immigrant advocacy groups, like the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy coalition, also worry about Trump upending programs that allow people to legally reside in the country, even if only temporarily.

    MIRA Chief of Staff Sarang Sekhavat said he fears losing programs and policies that protect people from deportation, like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or Temporary Protected Status , which have been in place for years.

    “What’s going to happen to all these families when you have an administration that says, ‘We’re ending these programs and kicking these people out of the country,'” he asked.

    States have little or no control over immigration policy, but they can decide whether or not to cooperate with federal enforcement actions.

    A handful of cities, including Boston and Somerville, have sanctuary city ordinances that prohibit police from inquiring about immigration status and detaining immigrants.
    based on non-criminal charges. Massachusetts does not have a statewide sanctuary law, but advocates are renewing calls for the Legislature to enact one.

    On Wednesday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said she was prepared to oppose Trump’s policies, including on immigration. She cited Trump’s 2017 ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries entering the United States.

    “Obviously, when he was president, he started by banning certain populations and certain voters,” she said. “We are well aware of that and (the attorneys general) then came together to work in partnership to fight this administration. That will not change this season.

    Other Massachusetts-based immigrant advocacy groups, like the nonprofit La Colaborativa, are also preparing to oppose potential Trump administration policies. Chief Operating Officer Alex Train said the organization has already begun expanding its immigration and legal aid programs.

    “As January approaches, providing free legal assistance to community members at risk of deportation or trapped in the immigration process will be invaluable,” Train said.

    The group also “strengthens our local safety net, including housing resources, food access programs, as well as health equity initiatives to ensure that all community members, regardless of whether their immigration status, will have access to these essential, life-saving resources” in the months and years to come, he said.

    No matter what happens, activists in New Bedford are trying to be resilient.

    At Wednesday night’s meeting, Yaquelyn Ruiz, 22, said the moment calls for people to organize and support each other.

    Speaking in Spanish, Ruiz said: “Panic and sadness are not the solution.” She said the broader community has become more accepting of Latinos since the 2007 raid, and she doesn’t think Trump can take away everything they’ve accomplished in New Bedford.

    Umito
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