After a 19-day protest, the Student Immigrant Movement (SIM)
and allied organizations celebrated a
victory in their campaign, Mass Hope 2010, for the
Massachusetts legislature to overturn a budget amendment laden with anti-immigrant
language.
For those 19 days, SIM members staged a 24/7 vigil in front of the
State House, risking arrest by local law enforcement, as a stand in
solidarity with immigrants, both documented and undocumented, in
Massachusetts.
SIM initiated Mass Hope in late May when the
state legislature's conference committee released its budget proposal
for the new fiscal year, which was laden with provisions that would
have been an affront to the rights of immigrants and children of
immigrants with regard to employment, housing, education and public
services.
The anti-immigrant legislation, amendment 172.1, was not only a
threat to immigrants' civil liberties, but would have also been costly
for taxpayers and highly inconvenient for a state government that's
already stretched thin by the ongoing recession.
Amendment 172.1 would have exemplified government at its worst. Its
wasteful and punitive measures were neglectful of its impacts on the
families of undocumented immigrants, and Massachusetts' immigrant
communities as a whole. And, it would have done absolutely nothing to
address the root causes of unlawful migration to the US.
SIM's mobilization succeeded in getting the conference committee to
take their proposal back to the drawing board. The outcome was, in large
part, a win for immigrant rights. While most of the proposed new
restrictions and regulations were struck down, the final budget proposal
contained provisions that codified existing practices and regulations
as law.
The Massachusetts Immigrant and
Refugee Coalition (MIRA) expressed mixed
feelings about the final budget. In the process of drafting their
final budget proposal, the conference committee eliminated a program
that has been providing state-subsidized healthcare for nearly 30,000
documented immigrants, raising concerns for the physical and financial
well being of thousands of men, women and children. Another concern MIRA
has conveyed is the closed-door message the immigrant-related
codifications send to future immigrants to Massachusetts, which has come
to be known as one of the most immigrant-friendly states in the US.
The budget is now headed to the Governor's desk for review. Although
most involved in Mass Hope are content with the conference committee's
decisions, MIRA still cautions Gov. Deval Patrick to carefully consider
the implications of the immigrant-related provisions they've deemed as
problematic.
The vigil has officially ended, but SIM and other
activists will keep
up the pressure on their state legislators to defend and expand the
basic rights of immigrants in Massachusetts. UFE is proud to have
participated in Mass Hope. UFE staffers participated in the vigil, in
rallies, provided support, resources and a space of community for the
campaign planners, protesters and others involved.
July 15, 2010
