Mayor Michelle Wu, of Boston, Massachusetts, emphasizes the invaluable contributions of immigrants to Boston’s society in her opening statement before the House Committee on Oversight: “We are the cradle of democracy and the city of champions. We are all these things not in spite of our immigrants, but because of them.” 

On Wednesday, March 5th, at 10 a.m., Mayor Wu and the mayors of New York, Chicago, and Denver testified before a congressional hearing about immigration policies. WCVB highlights that this Republican-led committee is seeking to decide whether these Mayors have violated Federal immigration policy with their respective cities’ policies. According to the committee’s Republicans, their actions are putting Americans’ lives at risk.

According to Boston 25 News, the Trump administration claimed that it intends to focus on undocumented illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes. It seems like a fair statement to reprimand those who have committed heinous wrongdoings. But is that really what is happening? 

Jeff Thielman, the President and CEO of the International Institute of New England since 2015, states, “The problem is we’re getting very confusing messages. So you hear from some quarters, they’re only going to go after people with criminal records, which is within the law and their right to do, and then you hear that they’re going to go after anybody who’s undocumented and that’s millions of people across the country’’ (nbcBoston). 

This confusion is destroying the community and the integrity of our country. Mayor Wu asks the Oversight Committee, “Please pass comprehensible immigration law,” because right now, the “fear and confusion” that the people of Boston feel isn’t healthy. 

Mayor Wu went on to say that with comprehensible, sensible, and compassionate rules then there wouldn’t be “pastors whose pews are half-empty on Sundays, doctors whose patients are missing appointments, teachers whose students aren’t coming to class, neighbors afraid to report crimes in their communities, and victims of violence who won’t call the police.”

The fear of being deported is making the “safest major city in the country,” with “the fewest homicides on record last year,” and a “new record low for gun violence in Boston,” unsafe. Mayor Wu states, “A city that’s scared is not a city that’s safe. A land ruled by fear is not the land of the free.”

Immigration policies should not be misused as a mask to hide hatred, racism, or ego. Without clear and comprehensible laws stating what the rules are regarding immigration, accompanied by threats of mass deportations from President Trump, Mayor Wu argues, “hard-working, tax-paying, God-fearing residents [are] afraid to live their lives.”

Furthermore,  Trump’s Administration’s decision to take aim at sanctuary cities by threatening to cut off federal aid sends a false message that all immigrants are detrimental to the safety of our country (BBC). 

According to WCVB, Sanctuary cities are cities that reduce cooperation with ICE for people who are accused but not convicted. These cities abide by local and state laws that prevent immigrants from being reported to ICE for not being legally in the U.S. In other words, they are not harboring criminals—they are upholding the rights of individuals no matter their immigration status.

In fact, the Boston Trust Act, which was updated in 2018, permits police to function with ICE for “significant public safety, such as human trafficking, child exploitation, drug and weapons trafficking, and cybercrimes.”.

Under these circumstances, it is absurd to investigate Mayor Wu on the basis that she is threatening the safety of Boston. As a sanctuary city, Boston is continuing to prioritize safety and not refrain from working to remove the most dangerous members of its community. 

Additionally, according to San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, the 10th Amendment, which states that the powers of the State and Federal governments are separate, holds that the policies of sanctuary cities are not illegal but a factor of the U.S. Constitution in practice. 

It is essential to have laws with comprehensible right-and-wrong clarifications. Yet, policies and sentiments around immigration have been wishy-washy and fluctuated from president to president. Ultimately, this leaves a lack of distinctive rules that address the issue of illegal immigrants, which is important when people are not paying taxes and yet receiving the resources paid for by taxpayers. 

It isn’t respectful to have policies that pave a legal pathway to attain citizenship yet bypass them and make exceptions. We need comprehensive immigration reform to ensure a safe and just system for all.

However, it is immoral to look at this problem with only a statistical and mathematical lens; it’s insensitive to consider immigration as numerical without any compassion for what causes people to flee from their countries. How do you tell immigrants who were promised sanctuary and encouraged by policies that offered a refuge in this country that they have to leave now? It’s cruel to welcome people under false pretenses and then expel them after their lives have already been built here and they’ve contributed to our communities. 

It’s a problem when Trump states that he plans to combat illegal immigration starting with the worst first, as it insinuates that the noncriminal illegal immigrants will also be met with mass deportations. Non-criminal immigration policies should not treat those who have begun a life here that was promised to be safe, with a sleight of hand. 

It’s a problem when a city has kids, parents, tax-paying, and hard-working community members who are afraid.

Many immigrants contribute to the character of America that we hold so dear. They make up 1 in 5 of the players on the last four Red Sox rosters to win a World Series, all but one of the BU faculty to win a Nobel prize, 1 in 4 of Boston residents, and 1 in 7 signers of the Declaration of Independence.

It’s problematic when those who have contributed economically and who have positively impacted our society are afraid of their status in the U.S. (Mayor Wu’s testimony under oath). 

Some argue that these new immigration policies will solve drug and violence problems. However, it should be acknowledged that while there are drug and crime problems, those problems are not caused solely by immigrants. Such a belief is unfounded, false, and naive. 

We did not gain our independence or our integrity as a nation from expelling the people who found refuge, just like our founding fathers did, on this land. We are not the home of the free and brave if we have people afraid to trust our police forces. We are not solving problems by painting everyone with the same brush. And we are not doing our civil duty if we are not asking questions, fact-checking, raising our voices, and standing our ground when authority threatens our character.

You want to solve gun violence? Drug problems? The lack of healthcare resources? The solution does not lie in turning on our neighbors. Be brave enough to research, question what you read, and raise your voice for the members of our society who are being targeted. 

Immigrants are an integral part of our character as a country and of our founding fathers’ vision for our nation; they are not innocent people to be snatched off the street. Help protect our neighbors, our diversity, and our integrity. Reach out to your local representatives and raise your voice for the ones who are being stripped of theirs.