The Brookline Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations is working to maintain the town’s status as a “Sanctuary City” for immigrants and refugees amidst rapidly deepening tensions at the United State’s southern borders.
In late June of 2019, President Donald Trump threatened that raids be carried out by the federal Immigrant and Customs Enforcement in 11 major cities across the United States. While Boston was not on the list of ICE targets, the Town of Brookline’s Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations (DICR) has been preparing for impact by supporting safe spaces for necessary conversations and local activist groups.
Brookline DICR welcomed Jeanne Gallo and Sunny Robinson, long-time Boston human rights activists, to share their experiences of visiting the border in 2018 and educate community members on how to assist undocumented immigrants or refugees seek asylum in Boston at Brookline Town Hall on Wednesday evening.
“I’ve never seen anything like it in my lifetime of humanitarian work,” Robison said in an interview. “It’s essentially genocide.”
Caitlin Starr, Assistant Director of Brookline DICR and organizer of the event, said that “Voices from The Border: A Cry for Justice” intended to bring a timely discussion to Brookline amid danger to the town’s position as a “Sanctuary City”.
The Brookline Select Board enacted legislation that declared the town a “Sanctuary City”, referring to the community safety standards of the Brookline police, after Trump threatened to ban Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals and deport undocumented immigrants in 2017, according to the town’s website.
Sanctuary cities do not knowingly work with ICE officers and will not question immigration status, according to Starr. Aside from legal protection, Brookline DICR offers resources to undocumented residents.
“We offer health insurance and food benefit assistance,” Starr said in an email interview. “We also distributed a “Know Your Rights” pamphlet to all religious and non-profit organizations.”
About 40 people, predominantly residents of Brookline, gathered at Town Hall for “Voices at the Border: A Cry for Justice” to educate themselves on protocol in the instance of an ICE raid. According to Data USA, the Latinx community is Brookline’s largest demographic of color comprising 10-percent of the population. The immigrant population also contributes much to the town’s local culture, according to Katherine Laugherty, an attendee at the event.
“I’ve lived here for nearly 50 years,” Laugherty said in an interview. “I’ve seen the good that immigrants have done for our community.”
Although many did not have personal experiences regarding the immigration crisis, attendees agreed that Latinx culture was something to be preserved in Brookline. According to Michael Garrison, an active participant in local politics and resident of Newton, educating the community on the municipal level is imperative for redirecting federal immigration policy.
“I try to attend the Diversity Commission events regularly,” Garrison said. “I just think it’s important to stay updated on how to help these folks out.”
The “Voices from The Border: A Cry for Justice” event received extremely positive feedback, and several attendees inquired on how to get involved with additional community organizations, according to Starr.
The Brookline Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations plans on continuing local advocacy efforts for immigrants and refugees in the community.
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