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The city of Boston will offer $4.5 million through a public-private partnership to support organizations helping immigrant residents with legal aid, rapid relief, and advocacy.
“The people of Boston founded this country on the principles of community and freedom for everyone, and those are the principles we are continuing to fight for,” said Mayor Michelle Wu on Tuesday.
The funds will specifically go toward helping immigrant residents access legal services, navigate the naturalization process, access mental health services and English as a second language classes. It will also boost the city’s know-your-rights outreach efforts to teach immigrants what powers they have if encountering immigration enforcement.
About $1.3 million of the funds will come from the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement.
Wu said the new public-private partnership with The Boston Foundation, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and the Barr Foundation will “stretch these dollars and provide a way for that impact to last even longer.” The three organizations have already committed $3.1 million, she said.
“Just over a month ago, I signed an executive order alongside six communities in greater Boston making absolutely clear that this is a region of the country that is going to hold accountable anyone who commits crime in our city,” she said, referencing the executive order she signed a month ago aiming to protect residents and protesters from abuse conducted by federal immigration agents on city property.
“With today’s announcements, we’re showing that the best way to keep our city safe is for us to come together as one community,” she said.
City Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune said she spent time over the weekend with the 80-year-old grieving mother of Emmanuel Damas, a local Haitian immigrant who was detained by ICE in September. He died recently after weeks of complaining of a toothache with subpar medical care at Florence Detention Center in Arizona, according to the family.
“There is absolutely no reason why someone should be dying from a toothache. The harm of this administration knows no bounds. He was a member of our community,” Louijeune said. She said today’s announcement shows solidarity for people like Damas and his family.
“We stand up against the harms that are being created by this administration. So we’ll do what we can. We are only a city, but we pack a mighty punch,” she said.
Philanthropic advocates highlighted contributions of migration to the region boosting population, and immigrant workers.
“$20 billion. That’s the amount that immigrants in Massachusetts paid last year in local, state, and federal taxes,” said Lee Pelton, CEO and president of The Boston Foundation. “When our immigrant neighbors are threatened or vulnerable, we do not stand aside. We step forward.”
