Brookline's Fernandez On ICE Agents In Sanctuary Cities

BROOKLINE, MA —The following was submitted by Brookline Select Board Member Raul Fernandez to the Patch related Extra Border Patrol Agents Coming To Boston Area:

February 16, 2020
Friends & Neighbors –
Many of you have read the reporting on ICE/CBP agents being dispatched to sanctuary cities, including Boston, over the coming months.
Brookline is also a Sanctuary Town (see our full policy), and residents are rightly concerned about the impact this may have on our neighbors as well as the chilling effect of these raids, which are clearly timed to disrupt Census outreach efforts.
It may go without saying, but let me say this anyway: The actions of this administration are vile and insidious and purposefully designed to stoke fear, to divide us. We won’t let that happen.
Brookline is a community where immigrants and refugees are welcome regardless of their documentation or status. Brookline is where they belong.
Immigrants are our neighbors, educators, and business owners. Their kids go to our schools. They cook the food at our favorite restaurants. They ride the Green Line, the 51, and the 66. They shop at the Booksmith, watch movies at the Coolidge, and argue over Scooters, just like the rest of us. In short, they are as much a part of Brookline as any one of us. And so, an attack on immigrants, regardless of their status, is an attack on all of us.
Some might be thinking we should keep our heads down and not speak out against this policy because it might lead to raids right here in Brookline. That we’re not as known as other nearby towns for our immigrant population and could simply fly under the radar. Let’s protect our people by staying silent, they say, lest we risk antagonizing this administration and end up on their enemies list. I’ll tell you right now, our silence, our complicity is exactly what they want, and it won’t save us or our neighbors.
Our response must be strong and unambiguous. From the Muslim ban, to the attacks on DACA, to ending TPS, to limiting refugee resettlement, to children and families in cages. We must say, absolutely and unequivocally, NO, we simply won’t stand by and let this go unchallenged.
It’s important that we speak out and stand up for our neighbors here in Brookline. We must also stand in solidarity with our neighbors in Boston and Chelsea and Everett and Lowell and Lawrence and Quincy and Fall River and any community that may be targeted by the terrorizing policies of this administration.
We must not cooperate with any efforts to round up, detain, and deport our neighbors.
And, we must do more than that. We must recommit ourselves to supporting our immigrant and refugee neighbors every day. We must support, financially and otherwise, organizations providing critical support for immigrants and refugees, including those active in Brookline like Welcome Blanket and Boston Friends for Refugee Support, as well as the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and the Immigrant Defense Fund.
Finally, we need to get to know our neighbors better. Whether while shopping, during school activities, at our places of worship, or just out about town, we need to talk to each other more. Because when others try to divide us, our most powerful response is to come together. Let’s make sure everyone feels welcome and included in our community, especially those who have most recently made Brookline their chosen home to live and to work.
For those who have been out at the protests with me, you know the chant: “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
I’ll be doing just that, and I invite you to join me. I’m open to any ideas you have to fight back against these hateful policies and to show love and support for our neighbors.
Let’s make it happen, together.

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