ON JULY 24, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its decision in the case of Lunn v. Commonwealth, holding that Massachusetts law enforcement officers lack authority to hold individuals on the sole strength of a federal immigration detainer. In response, Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation to allow Massachusetts law enforcement officers to detain targets of […]
Immigration
Posted inEconomy
Taking on the Trump deportation machine
MANY OF US CHOOSE TO LIVE in Massachusetts because of its freedom, relative to the rest of the world. While imperfect, our Commonwealth is safer, richer, cleaner, and fairer than most other places I’ve lived. This position of relative privilege and freedom gives Massachusetts residents both the opportunity and the obligation to work together to […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Sizing up 3 options on ICE detainers
Debate over immigration policy has bubbled up for years at the federal level, and now the recent decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in the case of Lunn v. Commonwealth has brought it to the forefront for state legislators, too. Attention has coalesced around three bills, each touching on a similar set of issues, […]
Posted inThe Download
Catching up with inaccuracy
In an editorial on Thursday, the Metrowest Daily News unloaded on President Trump for his embarrassing stance on climate change, which the newspaper said prompted scientists to leak a draft government report detailing the negative impact of rising temperatures and sea levels out of fear the administration would suppress it. “The changes are already real […]
Posted inThe Download
NYC subway system looks to Boston
In case you missed it, the New York City subway system is in crisis mode, and officials in the Big Apple are looking to Boston for some answers. At the end of June, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency, ordered a turnaround plan for the subway system, and pledged […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker, Warren not far apart on ICE detainers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE NEWTON MAYOR SETTI WARREN unleashed a blistering attack on Gov. Charlie Baker this week in response to the governor’s filing of legislation that would allow police, in some cases, to detain someone already in custody at the request of federal immigration authorities. He accused the Republican governor of making Massachusetts police […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC blocks local detentions for ICE
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE LAW DOES NOT permit officials to detain immigrants solely at the request of federal immigration officials, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday, putting up a legal barrier to a long-running component of immigration enforcement. In the case of Commonwealth v. Sreynuon Lunn, the court concluded that “nothing in the statutes […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download
For Jackson, tight squeeze to Walsh’s left
Marty Walsh is out of touch with issues affecting working-class people and those in the city’s less affluent neighborhoods. He’s more attuned to downtown development than down-on-their-luck constituents, and he hasn’t been willing to confront the city’s long-festering race issues. If that sounds like a tough case to make against Boston’s workaday mayor, a recovering […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Trash talk
CommonWealth ran a cover story in January 2015 that featured a photo of a dump truck unloading trash at a massive landfill in New Bedford. The headline, drifting in the center of the page amid all the stinking refuse, was: “Seriously, is this the best we can do?” Now, more than two years later, we’re […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
House OKs 1 of 2 immigration bills
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE LEADERS indefinitely postponed a planned vote Wednesday on legislation recommended by Democrats as a response to President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown, even as they approved another measure barring state sheriffs from offering inmates for labor outside the state. The postponed bill would have prevented state resources from being […]