The Garden of History: "City of Immigrants"

            Too many of us, said Laura Wagner -- though she put the idea more delicately -- have forgotten who are. Wagner, the executive director of the Unitarian-Universalist Mass-Action Network spoke in a conference room at the Thomas Crane Library in Quincy in front of a mural that depicted Quincy's history and industries under the legend "City of Immigrants. 

            "Migrants,' or immigrants, have always been with us, Wagner said. They come -- or are brought -- when we need their labor.

            Indentured servants arrived even before the Pilgrims. They were brought to the Jamestown, Virginia, to serve a colony of fortune-hunters while they waited for the rumored gold to turn up. Given malaria, bad food, and poor relations with their native neighbors, the mortality rate was strikingly high in Jamestown.

            Slaves were brought from Africa to provide labor in labor-intensive industries such as tobacco, indigo and, especially, cotton growing.

            Irish labor built the famed Erie canal, and other 19th century public works such as the railroads that connected cities and towns in the Eastern part of the country.
            The demand for labor on the vast transcontinental railroads drove companies to recruit Chinese men (women were generally barred). After the railroads were built, the federal government passed the "Chinese Exclusion Act," one of our country's first immigration laws.

            In the 19th and early 20th century, Mexican labor was recruited for agricultural work in western states such as California. Later, when the Great Depression created massive unemployment, Mexicans and many US citizens of Mexican descent were deported to a country where they had never lived.

            And today, of course, immigrants work in many industries, including construction, agriculture, factories, restaurants and hospitality -- generally in jobs where the work is hard and the pay poor.

            The common theme in the history of American immigration policy, Wagner said, is "racism." Until the mid-20th century legal entry was limited to people who were "considered to be white." Who was white, and who wasn't, was an ongoing discussion until relatively modern times.

            Wagner spoke at a program on the state's proposed Safe Communities Act, along with the bill's chief legislative proponent,Senator Jamie Eldridge. The law, Eldridge said, is intended to protect the safety and well-being of Massachusetts communities and residents, including undocumented people, by setting reasonable limits on the state's police departments' cooperation with federal cops known as ICE.

            The proposed law calls for local authorities to refuse to detain immigrants at the request of ICE unless they have been accused of committing a serious crime. Driving offenses, for example, the most common way the undocumented run afoul of American law, would not result in local detention and likely federal deportation. 

           Eldridge pointed out that a "detainer" from ICE is not a judicial order. It's a request. "Every undocumented person is a target for ICE," Eldridge said. "I believe the police should focus on serious crimes."

            The Safe Communities Act responds to what Eldridge termed a "period of mass deportation" initiated by the Trump administration.

            The bill also forbids creation of a "Muslim registry," one of the racist schemes Trump promoted during his shameful campaign of pandering to racist stereotypes.

            The bill has been endorsed by the state's two police chief organizations because if immigrants, including the undocumented, are afraid they will be deported by people in uniform, they will avoid all dealings with local and state police. This makes good policing much harder.

            If immigrants believe local or state police are working hand in glove with ICE, Eldridge said, "it's going to create a chilling effect on not only that particular immigrant, but on the whole community. ... They're going to be afraid to interact with police and provide them with information about a crime going on in the community."           

            Undocumented people, in particular, are less willing to report domestic or other forms of abuse if they think their residency status will be challenged. They're less likely to take a sick child -- or an adult family member -- to a hospital, or even a doctor. Or show up for a parents' conference at school.

            They're less likely to complain if they're being cheated or mistreated at work. Or by a landlord.

            The same worry makes them  more likely to drive away from a motor vehicle accident. And less likely to appear in court if called as a witness or for any other reason.

            Police chiefs sought an amendment, agreed to by the bill's sponsors, to give police the option to hold people requested for detainment by ICE for up to six hours if the individual has a record for conviction of a serious offense, or if a detainee is under arrest for a terrorism offense.

            The bill also requires law enforcement to inform anyone detained by ICE that they have the right to hire an attorney to defend him.

             Eldridge's bottom line message to Massachusetts residents is to contact the two legislative heads who make things happen (or not happen) in the state legislature, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Robert.DeLeo@mahouse.gov, and Senate President Harriette Chandler, Harriette.Chandler@masenate.gov, to urge them to bring the bill to a vote. 

            They should also contact their own representatives in the House and Senate to urge them to back the bill.   

            Few South Shore members are among the bill's sponsors, Eldridge said. Unfortunately, we live in timid times.