Politics
Choose Board Chair Kathryn Coughlin’s automotive was vandalized final week with a spray-painted message: “Deport Illegals.”
Because the City of Natick considers a proposed coverage clarifying the city’s immigration documentation coverage, somebody allegedly turned to vandalism amid the heated debate.
Choose Board Chair Kathryn Coughlin’s automotive was vandalized final week with a spray-painted message: “Deport illegals,” the MetroWest Each day Information reported. Coughlin confirmed the automobile was hers however declined to remark additional to Boston.com
Deputy Chief of Police Brian Lauzon confirmed that the incident was reported and mentioned “we’re actively conducting an investigation.”
The vandalism got here earlier than a Wednesday Choose Board assembly, the place members will focus on a proposed coverage relating to immigration offered Nov. 20.
The proposed coverage clarifies the city’s function relating to federal immigration enforcement. Since its first draft final month, the proposal has drawn widespread condemnation and assist.
Coverage wouldn’t ‘create a sanctuary city,’ however what would it not do?
In response to a memo printed by the city, a “group of engaged residents” started a dialogue with city officers in 2022 about addressing immigration issues, together with the usage of Natick’s “finite assets” and tips on how to defend the city from liabilities relating to federal immigration enforcement.
“The Choose Board shouldn’t be taking a selected stance on federal immigration coverage or laws – previous, current or sooner or later,” the memo mentioned.
The proposed coverage would bar city staff from inquiring about or amassing “any info relating to the citizenship or immigration standing of any particular person except Federal legal guidelines or the legal guidelines of” the state require it.
The coverage additionally proposes that “no worker of the City shall detain an individual based mostly solely on the assumption that the particular person shouldn’t be current legally in the US or that the particular person has dedicated an immigration violation.”
The City and its staff would additionally not perform as an immigration officer and wouldn’t “immediately help” within the enforcement of federal civil immigration legal guidelines, the proposed coverage reads. Appearing on issued warrants, subpoenas, and detainers are exempt from the coverage.
Coughlin declined to touch upon the vandalism, saying the Choose Board is poised to vote on the measure subsequent week on Dec. 18.
A reality sheet circulated by Natick reiterates that the proposal would enable immigrants, documented or not, to take part in police investigations as victims or witnesses with out concern and formalizes the follow that “no City division has the authorized authority to implement immigration legal guidelines, nor ask for immigration papers/standing, except required by state or federal regulation.”
The coverage doesn’t provide shelter or help to immigrants or create a sanctuary city, the very fact sheet mentioned.
MassGOP warns in opposition to proposal
The proposal comes as each the Metropolis of Boston and Massachusetts state leaders say they won’t cooperate with mass deportations anticipated when President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace. In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu has pressured that metropolis regulation prevents native assets and personnel, together with police, from working with federal brokers.
In Natick, the Massachusetts Republican Occasion warned in an announcement that the coverage would push undocumented immigrants with legal backgrounds to the Boston suburb. Leanne Harris, MassGOP Committeewoman for the Middlesex and Norfolk District, mentioned “Natick deserves higher.”
“This proposal places Natick on a troubling path that prioritizes political posturing over the protection of residents,” Harris’s assertion mentioned. “By stopping regulation enforcement from absolutely cooperating with federal immigration authorities, the city dangers turning into a magnet for legal exercise. We’ve already seen tragic examples throughout the state the place sanctuary insurance policies have failed to guard communities.”
One other committeeperson mentioned the proposal might overwhelm native assets.
“Even Democratic strongholds like New York Metropolis are combating the migrant disaster and reevaluating their stance on sanctuary insurance policies,” Nicky Meceli mentioned. “Natick is solely not geared up for this.”
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