Friday February 21, 2025

This Week’s Top News

• MIRA’s first Immigrants’ Day at the State House Spring Conference March 19: Preparing for Action Together – get your tickets now!
• Federal Policy Update
• Now The Good News
• Featured Article from Immigration Impact: Communities Continue to Stand by Immigrants Amidst Fear, Heightened Enforcement
• MIRA in the News
• What’s Happening at MIRA: Know Your Rights presentation in Marlborough ? Panel March 11 in J.P.: First They Came for the Immigrants . . .
• Cultural Offerings: The Grove at the Huntington Theatre
• Local & National News
• Resources: Immigration Legal Helplines ? Know Your Rights Resources
• Trainings and Workshops: Know Your Rights webinar February 21 at 10-11am ? MIRA’s Winter Training Series: Immigration Policy Updates and the Work Ahead – Thursday, February 27
• Get Involved: MIRA’s Americorps New American Integration Program is looking for host sites for the 2025-26 season! ? March 5 action 11am at City Hall Plaza: Rally in Solidarity with Mayor Wu ? Tuesday February 25 – Benefit Night for MIRA at Tres Gatos in JP ? Support the Protecting Our Immigrant Communities Campaign Action Alert ? Anti-Hate work at MIRA ? How You Can Volunteer With MIRA
• Donate to the MIRA Coalition

MIRA’s First Immigrants’ Rights Spring Conference March 19: Preparing for Action Together

This year, in preparation for the 29th annual Immigrants’ Day at the State House, MIRA is hosting our first Immigrants’ Rights Conference! The conference will be held March 18th from 9am to 6pm at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge. Preparing For Action, it will be an opportunity for advocates and community members to come together in solidarity, learning and preparing for the advocacy and lobbying that we will do on Thursday March 19 at Immigrants’ Day at the State House.?

It’s more important than ever to stand up for our immigrant communities, and urge our legislators to do the same. This year at our Immigrant Rights Conference on March 18th, we will be Preparing for Action by coming together to learn how immigrant rights are being affected right now, and what we can do to protect them. At the conference we’ll be hearing from immigrants rights leaders, sharing our legislative priorities, and holding workshops focused on helping us develop our advocacy skills. Our speakers and workshops will help us answer questions weighing on all of us:??

What policies can we advocate for to protect our immigrant communities?

How can we convince our legislators to stand up for immigrant rights??

What are some approaches to responding to immigration enforcement in our communities?

What can we do to take care of ourselves and remain resilient in the face of adversity?

Speakers will include:

Cristina Aguilera Executive Director of Massachusetts Office for Immigrants and Refugees

Nicole Melaku Executive Director of National Partnership for New Americans

Guerline Jozef Co-Founder and Executive Director of Haitian Bridge Alliance

Workshops will include:

Fundraising for immigrant rights and services in 2025: Tips from funders

Advocacy: How to talk to legislators

Rapid Response Approaches to Immigration Enforcement

Wellness: Remembering Our Ancestral Resilience by A’dahi Baira?

There will be music, lunch, and the presentation of MIRA’s Leadership Award in Honor of Christine Ntagengwa

Visit our website for more details about the event, workshops, and speakers.

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE

This conference day will prepare us to come Together In Action at Immigrants Day at the State House on Thursday March 19th. This will be the 29th annual IDSH, a much-anticipated day of celebration and action. At the State House we will be speaking to our legislators directly, ?and urging them to support policies that protect our immigrant communities, like the Safe Communities Act and the Immigrant Legal Defense Act. (Free registration for IDSH Thursday March 19 here)

Immigration Impact: Communities Continue to Stand by Immigrants Amidst Fear, Heightened Enforcement

The first few weeks of President Trump’s second term in office have instilled a heightened level of fear, as longtime neighbors, residents, and tightly knit communities have encountered increased federal immigration enforcement, elimination of safeguards like sensitive locations, and significant shifts in immigration policies.

Nevertheless, many communities continue to show up for one another in big ways and small to defend their neighbors, their loved ones, and their homes.

“A Day Without Immigrants” and Other Actions

From the business community to grassroots groups, a variety of voices have organized to push back and spotlight the harm of recent enforcement actions, like efforts to carry out mass deportations.

Across the United States, businesses participated in “A Day Without Immigrants” on February 3. With sales halted for a day, businesses in places like the?Twin Cities, Minnesota;?Houston, Texas;?and?Salt Lake City, Utah,?highlighted the destructive consequences of mass deportations on their businesses, their community, and the economy.

Grassroots efforts organized protests to support immigrants and refugees nationwide—from Texas and Idaho to Missouri and Arizona, and many more places in between. Community members pushed forward their support, even as many of their states continue to grow increasingly hostile to immigrant communities.

Local law enforcement officials have also continued to pledge to serve the greater community good,?stressing the importance of cultivating and sustaining public trust?between law enforcement and immigrant communities. In communities across North Carolina, for instance, sheriffs are speaking out against the state’s recent decision to collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). They’ve emphasized that local law enforcement’s main directive is to protect and serve their community, not instill fear. READ MORE

Federal Policy Update

• CBS reported on Wednesday that USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service) will indefinitely stop processing applications for people who entered the country on a categorical parole program (CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela) Parole program, Uniting for Ukraine, etc). This applies both to applications for temporary status, such as Temporary Protected Status, and applications to adjust status to that of a lawful permanent resident. This continues this administration’s attacks on lawfully present parolees and follows earlier news that the administration intends to revoke parole status
• As we face a March 14th deadline for Congress to pass a federal budget, many are wondering if we are headed for another government shutdown. Both chambers have passed a budget resolution, basically a broad outline for what should be included in the budget, but remain far apart on what should actually be included in this reconciliation process. Senate leadership is still pushing for 2 bills while House leadership is hoping to push for their entire agenda in a single bill. In the meantime, Congress may look to another continuing resolution (CR) to keep the lights on after mid-March. The expectation is that the Senate will begin debating amendments this week while the House is in recess. However, things remain in flux as Senators were caught off guard on Wednesday when Trump endorsed the House approach of a single large bill to include immigration, tax cuts, and cuts to vital social programs.
• Although the White House directive of across the board spending cuts has been suspended by court order, the administration continues to make piecemeal cuts to critical services for immigrants. The latest cut is to a program providing legal services to unaccompanied minors, leaving up to 26,000 children, some as young as 2 years old, without legal representation in immigration court. These children are expected to represent themselves in a court of law where the decision will reverberate throughout their entire lives.
• The House is expected to vote on HR 32 as early as next week. This bill would strip critical social service funds from jurisdictions if those . . . . . ?READ MORE

Check out MIRA’s new Policy Updates page for regular state and federal policy information

Now The Good News

• Birthright citizenship: Preliminary injunctions issued by 4 judges in 5 cases.? On Wednesday, a federal appeals court denied an administration request to lift the injunction issued by the Seattle court.
• Asylum: ACLU has sued over the ban on asylum seekers
• Refugees: Catholic bishops have sued over the freeze in refugee resettlement funding.
• National organizations are looking for plaintiffs to stop the termination of categorical parole programs. Anyone who might be interested should email [email protected]
• MIRA’s first Know Your Rights Training and Policy Briefing for legislators last week was highly successful, with 120 registrants and lots of appreciation from legislators and staff
• Anti-Trump rallies held across the country on Monday demonstrated widespread support for immigrants’ rights
• Our communities continue to stand strong and support each other

You can find information about upcoming Know Your Rights trainings here

You can find Know Your Rights recorded presentations and slides here

Subscribe to our Youtube Channel - we will continue to add resources in multiple languages as they become available

MIRA in the News

CBS News: Some Massachusetts schools see spike in absences amid immigration fears Read more

Fast Company: 5 Ways you can help immigrant communities being targeted by Trump policies Read more

New Bedford Light: Know your rights: How to interact with law enforcement or ICE Read more

WGBH: Educators learn how to deal with immigration enforcement Read more

MassLive: Mass. immigration judge fired by Trump administration Read more

More MIRA in the news:

New Bedford Light: Amid fears of deportation, immigration advocates help families prepare Read more

The Herald News: Mass. immigrant support coalition impacted by funding freeze, IAC and MAPS not affected Read more

Jamaica Plain News: First They Came for the Immigrants…This Time, JP Speaks Out Read more

What’s Happening at MIRA

Know Your Rights training in Marlborough with Pastor Rodrigo, Senator Jamie Eldridge, State Representative Carmine Gentile and Marlborough City Councilor Robert Preciado

Stand up for your immigrant neighbors:?Learn what local organizations are doing to defend immigrant rights and how you can help.

Save the date:?Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 pm at First Baptist Church?(633 Centre St)

Come get informed about the local impact of the administration’s assault on immigrant rights and lives, and learn what we can do to defend our immigrant neighbors. Leaders representing various organizations will speak about advancing legal, legislative, and community mobilization efforts, which will be followed by Q&A and break-out groups to deepen the dialogue.

This is an opportunity to learn and get involved.

You must RSVP for this event at?https://www.mobilize.us/jpprogressives/event/756632/.?

Organizations on the panel?(as of the time of publication): MIRA?(Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy?Coalition) BIJAN?(Boston Immigrant Justice Accompaniment Network) Cosecha Brazilian Women’s Group Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights

Organized by the JPP Immigration Rights Action Group (JPP-IRAG)

Registration and ticket links are live (click on the images above)! Stay tuned to the MIRA website for more details about this year’s Immigrants’ Day at the State House and MIRA’s first Immigrants’ Rights Conference – 2 days of advocacy and celebration!

MORE INFO HERE

Save the date for MIRA’s 29th annual Give Liberty a Hand event. For sponsorship opportunities and more information visit our website.

When: Thursday May 29 6-9pm

Where: Artists for Humanity, Boston

Tickets and more details: stay tuned

Become a GLAH sponsor!

Upcoming Trainings, Workshops and Webinars

Thursday February 27 1-2pm: Immigration Policy Updates and the Work Ahead Register here

MIRA’s Winter Training Series is open for registration! Register for one or for the whole series

More info and registration here

Local & National News

NY Times: Something Extraordinary Is Happening All Over the World Read more

NBC News: The latest on Trump's immigration crackdown — and the reality of limited resources ?Read more

AP News: Your immigration questions answered: What has changed under Trump, what hasn’t and what’s next Read more

Politico: Trump administration fires new immigration judges Read more

Boston25 News: Trump administration halts support for representing unaccompanied children in immigration court Read more

Cultural Offerings

The Grove

Ufot Family Cycle

Written By Mfoniso Udofia

Directed by Awoye Timpo

Where: the Huntington Theatre

When: Playing Feb 7 – March 9

Learn more and buy tickets here

Please use and share the videos, social graphics, printables and links in this multilingual digital toolkit to spread the word and provide access to important resources for our immigrant communities. Materials will be added as they are created.

MIRA Know Your Rights Digital Toolkit

For more materials and trainings visit MIRA’s website

Get Involved

MIRA’s Americorps New American Integration Program is looking for host sites for the 2025-26 season!

More information and application here

Mayor’s Youth Summit Feb 22 5-8pm Info here

Tickets here

With a federal government committed to the mass detention and deportation of immigrants and actively stripping away existing rights and protections, Massachusetts must take a stand.

Two bills introduced in the Massachusetts legislature?would help prevent the deportation of our immigrant friends, neighbors and community members and protect their access to justice and protection.

Ask your state legislators to co-sponsor these two bills.?Use our form to easily send an email to your state senator and representatives

READ MORE ABOUT THE PROTECT OUR IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES CAMPAIGN

SEND A LETTER TO YOUR LEGISLATOR

Donate to the MIRA Coalition

Share the News!

Encourage your friends to sign up for our Bulletin here!