Immigrant Advocates Hold State House Vigil in Opposition to Anti-Immigrant Bill

BOSTON/State House - Over 75 immigrants and allies from religious, labor and community organizations held a vigil in front of the Massachusetts State House against Mass. Senate Bill 2061/House Bill 3913, "An Act to Enhance Community Safety", for several hours on Tuesday in hopes of pressuring legislators to kill it in committee. The event was organized by Centro Presente.

The lead sponsors of the bill, Rep. John Fernandes (D-Milford) and Sen. Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge), have said that its passage is necessary to address the impacts of undocumented immigrants on local communities by cracking down on business owners and landlords who are exploiting those immigrants.

Immigrant advocates disagree and say that the bill is actually targeting undocumented immigrants, and would effectively: legalize racial profiling and encourage community division, undermine community safety, criminalize workers and hardworking families, and ban families from accessing public housing.

According to the text of the bill, if passed into law it would: sharply increase the penalty for driving without a license, from $100 to $1,000, under a progressive scale that ticks up for each subsequent offense; require companies seeking public contracts to certify that their employees are authorized to work in the U.S.; require that state resources and benefits - including in-state tuition - be reserved for U.S. residents; and require people who obtain motor vehicle registrations to provide a Social Security number, a federal tax ID number, or proof of legal residence.

Several organizers and affected immigrants and Rep. Denise Provost (D-Somerville) addressed the vigil and spoke out against the bill. There was a light police presence and no counter-demonstrators. The crowd dispersed in the late evening as planned. There were no incidents and no arrests.

The bill has remained in the Joint Committee on the Judiciary since a Feb. 28th public hearing. It is unclear whether it will advance further along in the legislative process during this session - although it has significant support in both houses of the Mass. General Court.

This article is a news brief.