1. United States
2. Mass.
3. Letter

This AM, we watched as 3 ICE vehicles surrounded a car in front of an elementary school, dragged the man from the vehicle and took him away, leaving the car in the middle of the street. This occurred during the morning walk to school for our neighborhood children, and we heard the nervousness and concern in their voices as they talked about (and filmed on their phones) “ICE kidnapping Brazilians”. ICE left the car in the middle of the street during a time of day that parents are doing drop off, buses are coming into the school yard, and children are walking. The incidents we have witnessed - and there are at least one a week lately - have all been heartbreaking for our community. But this one was especially egregious in that it scared children, created an unsafe road situation, and will cause lasting trauma for not just the friends and family of the kidnapped man but for an entire neighborhood elementary school that witnessed it. Our immigrant neighbors have been part of this community for a long time. These families are our schoolchildren’s friends, our restaurant owners, handymen, our grocery check out clerks, our gardeners and cleaners. They enrich our lives by changing the fabric of America’s original Immigrant Town. Further, I’m sure you are aware that Plymouth Country Correctional Facility is housing ICE detainees. The sight of the Plymouth Country Sheriff’s patrols through the streets of Plymouth - working to help ICE - is also unsettling. They hide their big black windowless vans behind trees waiting for the ICE agent to bring their victims to them, then speed through our streets to whisk them away to PCCF, Hanscom, or other military bases to be sent all over the country in an effort to subvert due process. It’s all extremely reminiscent of fascist societies, historical and fictional. While understanding that immigration is a federal issue, and our options for what we can do at the state level are limited, I demand to know what concrete steps you are taking to address the uptick in MA ICE presence. Minimally, schools should offer trauma support in these Ideally you are working on lawsuits, MA laws/resolutions, visiting PCCF, etc - to defend our communities. I thank you for your No vote on the Sept 19 CR. I would also appreciate confirmation that you continue to vote No unless all additional funding for ICE is removed from the CR. This fascist, authoritarian government must be stopped. Voting yes on the CR is a vote means even more funding for ICE. Please understand that the people support a shutdown of Trump’s government. We need you to stand strong the way our Community Group - and so many other local organizations - are standing strong during these awful times. We elected you to represent us. What is happening is not representative of MA values. We started the Revolution against the last King. It’s time to revolt agains this wanna be King.