Declaration will salute immigrants, knock critics

Printed from: https://newbostonpost.com/2015/12/18/declaration-will-salute-immigrants-knock-critics/

To mark International Migrants Day, activists plan to visit the State House Friday and deliver a declaration outlining positive contributions of immigrants in Massachusetts and knocking the “cynical use of xenophobic and racist scapegoating of immigrants and refugees” by presidential candidates and other public officials.

According to Centro Presente and the Brazilian Worker Center, the declaration will be delivered at 11 a.m. to the offices of Gov. Charlie Baker, Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley Rosenberg.

The declaration echoes frustration with Congress for failing to address immigration system problems, and with state and local officials for not promoting legislation “that would alleviate the suffering of immigrant families at the hands of this broken immigration system and the prison industry that profits from it.”

The declaration reads in part, “We recognize and appreciate the approximately 185,000 undocumented immigrants who reside in Massachusetts and contribute to the economy, progress and social fabric of our communities. We recognize the reasons why these immigrants have left their homes and families to travel a perilous road to live under challenging conditions — we recognize the systemic violence and poverty in their countries of origin that are in large part the result of a failed economic model imposed by international entities and trade policies promoted by the U.S. Government’s foreign and economic policies.”

— Written by Michael Norton

Copyright State House News Service