Safe Communities: We had the numbers; where was the courage? Video from Progressive Needham
John Kirk from Progressive Needham reminds us at least week's #WednesdayWitness that the legislature already has the votes to pass #SafeCommunitiesAct but they lack the will and the leadership to have done so.
For the sake of the children separated from families and for the safety of undocumented citizens who are our neighbors,in order to #KeepFamiliesTogether let's demand from our representatives that they make this the first order of business when they re-convene in January 2019.
#nohatenofear #immigrantsarewelcomehere #NoExcuses
The End (of 190th Session) is Coming
The Legislative session here in Massachusetts ends one week from tomorrow, and there's still a lot to get done.
Find your state representative's contact info here, and then give them a call on these key issues. .
Alphabet Soup Activism: FBRC, ERPO, SCA, and AVR
TL;DR:
- Call your state rep about fully funding our schools.
- Call your state senator about common sense gun regulations.
- Let your state senator and state rep know that it’s time to act on the Safe Communities Act.
- Email your state rep in support of voting rights.
Saturday’s convention was exciting, as we saw all three of our endorsed candidates--Jay Gonzalez, Quentin Palfrey, and Josh Zakim--win the party’s endorsement.
But the convention also reminded us of all the work we still have cut out for ourselves this legislative session. The speakers highlighted how Massachusetts needs to do more to set a good example for other states and to fight back against Trump.
And that can’t wait.
Here are a few things that you can do this week.
SCA: When Lawmakers Won't Make Laws
APRIL 1 - PRINTER FRIEINDLY - Here's more on the policies we'll be pushing via the budget process:
These 3 provisions have broad public support, and extend critical protections to all immigrants.
ALL are from the Safe Communities Act–and are endorsed by the two MA police chief associations.
ALL comply with federal law. Federal law prohibits limiting communications between local and federal agencies about immigration status. It does not require local law enforcement to collect this information.
4 Ways to Resist Trump’s Agenda Here in Massachusetts
We’re running out of time in the legislature. We’ve got 4 action items for Pres Day!:
- Register for Lobby Day (read more below!)
- Make calls this week for Safe Communities (read more!)
- Push to increase voter participation (read more!)
- Upgrade the Legislature with a progressive legislator (read more!)
SCA Call In Day: Get Safe Communities out of committee
Posted
on Safe Communities Act
by Issues Committee, Progressive Mass
· January 30, 2018 4:36 PM
· 1 reaction
The tool below helps you with tailored, scripts, actions, reporting. To dig in to specifics of the Safe Communities Act, read up here: safecommunitiesact.com! (It's always great to get more informed, but NB, you do not need to know the policy exhaustively to make these calls!)
Fuzzy, Xenophobic Math: Mass Fiscal
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a group that allegedly focuses on "fiscal responsibility" that has had xenophobia at its core from the start, has been targeting legislative supporters of the Safe Communities Act with mailers fear-mongering about undocumented immigrants. On the mailers, they quote a statistic from the ironically named white supremacist group FAIR: "Illegal Immigration costs Massachusetts taxpayers $1.8 Billion Annually." Not Having It: Rep. Calter claps back at Mass Fiscal
Mass Fiscal is sending out postcards to voters designed to mislead and provoke a backlash against the Safe Communities Act. We were delighted to receive Rep. Calter's comprehensive and emailed response to his constituents.
Bravo and thank you Rep. Calter, for being a strong advocate for due process, keeping our communities SAFE, and rejecting xenophobic fear tactics.
The email is quoted in full below:
As you may be aware, Mass Fiscal Alliance sent out post cards to residents that misrepresents the substantive elements of House Bill 3269, The Safe Communities Act. Because Mass Fiscal Alliance has a total disregard for truths that do not support its radical political agenda, I now need to set the record straight.
The legislation I co-sponsored does not even address the issue of Sanctuary Cities. It is an act that ensures that our Massachusetts tax dollars are devoted to protecting our communities and not to the enforcement of Federal immigration laws that fall under the sole authority of ICE(Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
To learn more about what The Safe Communities Act does and does not do, please read below:
On January 23, 2017, the Trump administration introduced an aggressive immigration enforcement agenda that relies on the conscription of state and local law enforcement and facilities to identify and detain immigrants. This agenda is already having far-reaching consequences in our communities, and raises major public safety, public health, economic and civil rights concerns. A federal court has already ruled that such coercion is unconstitutional because-among other things-it violates the 10th amendment prohibition on commandeering state resources for federal purposes.
It is no coincidence that The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court was the first in the nation to find that state laws don't allow us to hold a person on an ICE detainer; doing so violates Massachusetts statute.
Hate Campaign Against Safe Communities Act
Mass Fiscal--long-time Trumplike nativists masquerading as Very Serious Think Tank--is sending out fear-based postcards to voters, designed to undermine the precarious progress we've achieved on the Safe Communities Act in 2017.
They use junk data from a known-hate group, FAIR, which has a long history of misrepresenting Safe Community/TRUST act policies to stir up panic--and to drive opposition calls into the State House.
They do this because it works. PLEASE help us respond and counteract their efforts, with the call tools/script below. (As always--know your legislators' names and numbers--keep them in your contact list for next time!)
If you don't have time for a call, a heartfelt email of support works, too -- we have a starter template, but it's best to make it seem as little like a "form email" as possible--so take the minute to add a few words at the start and end to make it your own. (Don't forget to sign your name--and write to BOTH your Senator and State Rep. Adapt our email template for your state rep AND state senator, here. Don't forget to record your outreach below!)
CALL SCRIPTS, REPORTING TOOLS AND MORE INFORMATION ARE IN THE FORM BELOW