Dear Friends & Supporters of the Sister City Project,

Thanks to all those that packed the VFW Hall to near capacity for our October 17 Educational Forum & Fundraiser. We raised close to $35,000.

It was a special evening kicked off by greetings from Gov. Michael Dukakis and followed by the beautiful sound of Brookline High School’s a capella group, Note-a-Fly.

Before hearing from the guest speakers, the Nicaraguan niece of Brookline resident Martha Portocarrero was introduced and received a standing ovation.  She had just been granted asylum status after seven months in ICE detention. Her Nicaraguan husband, an electrical engineer, remains in detention.

Our two guest speakers each had important messages.

Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), spoke about changes enacted and proposed by the Trump Administration. While the treatment of immigrants under previous administrations has been problematic and the United States continues to lack a coherent immigration policy, under the Trump administration practices have moved to an extreme. Among the issues touched upon were:

Detention & Family Separation
Approximately 600,000 persons have been apprehended at the southern border year-to-date. Despite court orders to resolve and widespread international condemnation,  thousands of children have been separated from their parents at the border. The daily census of children in detention ranges from 11,000 to 14,000, and the daily number of ICE detainees this year is approximately 45,000.

Refugee Admissions
The United States has decreased the number of refugees to be admitted to the country from 110,000 in the last year of the Obama administration to a record low of 18,000 and has threatened to reduce them to zero.

DACA
Approximately 800,000 continue to be threatened by the administration’s proposal to eliminate DACA.  For many, this could mean they could be deported to countries where they do not speak the language, and where they haven’t resided for decades or at all.

Legal Paths to Citizenship
Even legal paths to citizenship have been disrupted with delays in processing lasting months or even years.

Massachusetts Lags Behind Other States in Supporting Immigrants
Despite the Commonwealth’s relatively welcoming status, we lag behind states that have enacted reforms to support and protect newly arrived immigrants. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have extended in-state tuition at public higher education institutions, and many offer state financial aid.  Twelve states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, have extended driver’s licenses to all qualified drivers regardless of immigration status. Three states have passed strong laws limiting local law enforcement involvement in deportations. Massachusetts has not yet joined these pioneers, despite repeated proposals for similar legislation. Currently, before the state legislature is the following:

  • Safe Communities Act – ensures basic rights for non-citizens in police custody and to end police and court involvement in deportations.
    (Since the forum, a full-day hearing on the Safe Communities Act has been scheduled for Monday, December 2, beginning 10 am, at the State House;
    For more info, see the MIRA campaign site at http://bit.ly/MA-SCA).
  • Tuition Equity Bill – extends in-state tuition for public colleges to all graduates of Massachusetts high schools;
  • Work & Family Mobility Act – ensures that all drivers on our roads are trained, licensed and insured, and;

Award-winning author Stephen Kinzer gave impassioned remarks about the importance of the Sister City Project and others like it in these times of increasing repression, civic instability and economic decline in Nicaragua.  He shared a brief historical overview of U.S. intervention in Nicaragua.  This year marks the 110th anniversary of the U.S. military’s intervention in 1909, the first of a continuing pattern.

In the context of the Sister City Project, he urged us to be reliable partners to the Quezalguaque community despite changes in the Nicaraguan government.  “Now more than ever,” the people of Quezalguaque need our support.

Many thanks!
Richard Segan, President
Brookline-Quezalguaque Sister City Project
PO Box 114
Brookline, MA 02446
brooklinesistercity.org