- On Tuesday April 1 at 10am, advocates from across the state will gather at the Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston to support a lawsuit against the administration’s decision to end TPS for Haiti and Venezuela. This is the first hearing in a suit filed earlier this month by Haitian Americans United, the Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, and the UndocuBlack Network as well as impacted individuals.
- On Wednesday, a federal appellate court upheld a district court’s injunction on using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport Venezuelans without due process. The case was brought by the ACLU in Washington, D.C. on behalf of five Venezuelans held in Texas. The administration had previously sparked a constitutional conflict when they had ignored the District Court’s order to halt such deportations, sending hundreds to a notorious prison in El Salvador. The administration had previously been claiming that the deportees were all violent gang members, but it has since emerged that many were labelled gang members simply because they had tattoos.
- Columbia Student Hunted by ICE Sues to Prevent Deportation Read the NY Times article here
- Thousands showed up to protest detention of Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk in Somerville on Wednesday. As one woman at the rally pointed out: the 1774 Massachusetts Powder Alarm set in motion the process of taking down a tyrant, “and we are about to do it again.” Read the article in Cambridge Day
- Resistance to Trump is everywhere — inside the first 50 days of mass protest: From mass refusals to boycotts to walkouts, regular Americans are bravely pushing back against the administration. Their actions are diverse and multiplying — and already having an impact. Read the article from Waging Nonviolence
- Vermont artists are supporting refugees and asylum seekers by participating in monthlong daily creative activities to benefit nonprofits across the state. Seven Days: Mixed-Media Marathon: Arts Fundraisers Go the Distance
Note from the “To Immigrants With Love” interactive exhibit at MIRA’s Immigrants’ Day at the Statehouse event
Some inspiring words from Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, who honored us as the keynote speaker at MIRA’s Immigrants’ Rights conference last week:
“This country is ours. We will continue to make it better for those who are yet to come as we honor those who came before us.”
Guerline Jozef – Haitian Bridge Alliance
“My question for us here is: What are we willing to do? What are we willing to do when they come to take your neighbor? What are we willing to do when we clearly understand that in this country black lives continue to not matter? . . . If we truly believe these ideologies, how are we choosing to move forward to defend those who are less fortunate than we are?”
Guerline Jozef, Haitian Bridge Alliance