Federal immigration crackdowns have escalated in Massachusetts, and the Trump administration’s moves to strip protections for unaccompanied children are sparking reactions from immigrant advocacy groups and local politicians.
After pledging to “bring hell to Boston,” President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies arrested more than 370 immigrants in Greater Boston over the past two weeks.
Massachusetts cities like Boston and Chelsea are sanctuary cities, though the state itself does not identify as having sanctuary status.
Sanctuary status intends to promote immigrants’ rights and trust between local law enforcement and immigrant communities. However, this status has not deterred deportation efforts in certain cities, such as Chelsea, where several arrests took place March 18.
Todd Taylor, vice president of the Chelsea City Council, said the arrests were a “good thing,” as this phase of Homan’s deportation is targeting criminals.
“In this phase, they are targeting criminals and people who are wanted,” Taylor said. “We should have been getting criminals out of our communities the entire time because they victimize people.”
Taylor said both the Democrat and Republican Parties “are to blame” for the immigration issues America is facing.
“There’s reasons on both sides for these things to happen,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately, it’s city officials, like us, who have to deal with the problem that was caused way above our pay grade.”
Many of the arrests sparked backlash, including protests following the arrest of Tuft University PhD candidate Ruymesa Ozturk.
“The targeting is retaliatory, and it’s based on expression,” Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, executive director and chief legal officer of Council on American-Islamic Relations Massachusetts, said. “It’s based on political ideology that these students are being as harassed as they are being and losing their ability to remain in the country.”
In the wake of these arrests, the Trump administration revoked the Unaccompanied Children Program March 21. This program aimed to provide legal representation to unaccompanied immigrant children.
Claire Valentin, managing director of innovation and advocacy at the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, said children seeking asylum or other protections must represent themselves in immigration court since there is no right to counsel.
As a result, even those with strong claims face low chances of success, she said.
“The removal of funding for counsel for children means that far fewer children will be able to seek protection in the United States,” Valentin said. “Children who are here living with undocumented relatives may again be without the care and support of a parent or a caretaker if those individuals are arrested.”
Paul Belfanti, president of the Immigrant Support Alliance, an organization that works with resettlement agencies to help asylum seekers and refugees in Boston, said while in the past the chances of a refugee with “legal status” being deported were slim, Belfanti is not so sure given the administration’s recent actions.
“The way that this current administration is conducting itself, I don’t know,” Belfanti said. “I don’t think anything can be assumed.”
ISA has seen an influx in community members seeking support since the start of the Trump administration, Belfanti said.
“We took on a family of five once some years ago, but currently, we’ve got four different clients and a total of about 15 people, which is much more than we’ve ever taken on before,” he said.
Belfanti said the more he does this work, the “more upsetting” it is to hear “statements that people have been led to believe about immigrants.”
“Nothing could be more opposite of the truth,” he said. “Given what people have gone through to get to this country in the first place, they are the most driven, resilient, persistent, determined people you will ever meet.”
