[I heard about this vote in our State House just a little while ago, and unfortunately the vote took place before I finished the diary. I apologize if it's a little disjointed because of that. I also should point out that all is not lost, the budget still needs to go through Conference Committee and then be signed by Governor Patrick.]
Arizona's insanity seems to be spreading to Massachusetts. As the State Senate debates the budget for fiscal year 2011, Republicans in the Senate (all 5 of them) are pushing to attach anti-immigrant amendments to the Senate's budget proposal. The sad thing is, the Democrats (all 35 of them) seem to be rolling over.
And this in the state of our beloved Ted Kennedy.
Before I get to what the amendments are, I'd like to give you a little background. On Monday, eight anti-immigrant amendments to the Senate budget became public. The Republicans who introduced these amendments include Richard Tisei, who is running for Lieutenant Governor. A House version of one of the amendments had already been introduced by Representative Jeffrey Perry, who is running for the William Delahunt's Congressional seat (10th district which includes Cape Cod). In response, a number of advocacy organizations - including SEIU, the Anti-Defamation League, Centro Presente, and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition - joined some of the MA state senators yesterday morning for a press conference in the State House where they denounced the amendments. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (my Senator, I'm proud to say), pointed out that the proposals were essentially a, "multi-million dollar campaign ad for Republicans who are seeking higher office at the expense of taxpayers."
For me, the highlight of the press conference was:
Derrek Shulman, executive director of the New England Anti-Defamation League, described the rhetoric being used in the debate over illegal immigration in Massachusetts and around the country as bordering on language used by "racists, neo-Nazis and white supremacists."
Link
One media outlet, the State House News Service described those same comments a little differently [sorry, subscription only and I don't have the link handy...had the text of the story emailed to me]:
ADL New England regional director Derrek Shulman raised the specter of white supremacists and neo-Nazis when he spoke about the importance of rejecting the GOP budget amendments. "The danger lies when their sentiment is embraced and embedded into the mainstream, when DJs and columnists and some elected officials start embracing that language of exclusion," he said.
Republicans, of course, threw a temper tantrum when they saw that and demanded an apology from Mr. Shulman for, supposedly, calling them neo-nazis and white supremacists. Here's the thing. Not only did Shulman not call them that (obviously), but even if he had, he wouldn't be that far off. After all, these are legislators who quote FAIR on the floor of the State House. FAIR, in addition to being behind the AZ law, was also founded by John Taunton, a known racist. The Southern Poverty Law Center noted last September that FAIR still embraces its founder and that he is still on their board.
Keep that in mind the next time your local politician or local news outlet decides to quote FAIR...and trust me, they will.
Unfortunately, our Senate Democrats seem to be scared of their 5 colleagues across the aisle. After passing a watered down version of one of the amendments last night, our Democratic Senate President, Therese Murray (who has traditionally been an ally of immigrants), and many of her Democratic colleagues seem to have misplaced their spines. They bundled 3 of these anti-immigrant amendments together and JUST PASSED THEM BY A VOTE OF 28-10!!!!!!!!!
Literally passed them while I was writing that last paragraph. I need a drink.
Without further ado, here is a summary of the amendments that were just passed.
The most odious of the amendments would create a hotline in the Attorney General's office (yes, our famous Martha Coakley) for people to report undocumented workers. Worse yet, for some insane reason, Senate President Murray added on her own (as far as I can tell, because it wasn't part of the original amendment) a provision that would require the AG to report any calls to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Yeah, because the AG's office isn't already overburdened and underfunded.
The second amendment would require the state to verify the status of all people in state housing. Right now, the state has no restrictions (remember the President's aunt?). It's not clear yet (I haven't seen the text of the amendment) how they will verify status and who will be eligible for housing. I've been working on issues relating Haitians in the aftermath earthquake (my job can be depressing, but it's also very rewarding). Massachusetts has the 3rd largest Haitian population in the country (behind NY/NJ and Florida). Many of the Haitians that have entered since the earthquake have done so on B-2 visas (visitors visas) as they accompany their US Citizen children. They can't work on these visas and are reliant on public programs to support themselves and their children, including and especially state housing. However, because they lack a permanent status, they will no longer be eligible for such housing - they and their children will be thrown out. I'm not clear whether Haitians on Temporary Protected Status will be able to remain in housing or not - if/when I find out, I'll let you know. What I do know is that there are a lot of mixed-status families from all over the world who are about to be thrown out of housing because one of more members of the family are undocumented. That's a lot of US Citizen children who could be sleeping on the street soon.
The final amendment permanently bars in-state tuition for undocumented children. A little background on this: MA unlike states like TX, CA, KA, and others, does not allow undocumented students to attend public colleges and universities at in-state tuition rates. Instead, they are considered to be foreign students - even if they have lived here since they were a day old, even if they were valedictorian of their high school. I can't tell you how many times I get a call from some college counselor telling me about one of their students who just found out he/she was undocumented because they were applying for college and asking me if there is anything that can be done. I got one of these calls just this morning and talked to the girl herself. She was Brazilian, but didn't have the slightest trace of an accent. It breaks my heart, but I have no choice but to tell them there is nothing anyone can do. The best part about this amendment, it was SEIU's legislative priority this year to pass a bill to grant these kids in-state tuition rates. Instead our Democrats betray them and do the exact opposite.
I think I'm gonna be sick.
So why did they do this? Why did the Democrats betray the people? Can't say for certain. Murray has apparently claimed that she was upset about ADL's comments. Screw her. Screw them all.
I assume that Senators Chang-Diaz, Jamie Eldridge, and Kenneth Donnelly voted for us because they all spoke at yesterday's press conference (thank you, thank you, thank you!!!). I know that Sentors Stephen Baddour and Murray joined the Republicans in voting against us (fuck you). I'm waiting to get the roll call and find out what all the other votes were. I'll try to update as I get more information.
In the meantime, could you all do me a favor? Actually, two favors? Can you call your US Senators and tell them you want Comprehensive Immigration Reform and the DREAM ACT to be passed this year? Please? We really need to stop this kind of insanity. Can you also call Murray at (617) 722-1500 and ask her why she would betray so many people in MA? I think it would be really effective if calls came from outside the state, they need to know that the country is paying attention.
Also, if you live in MA, can you call your Representative and tell them you want this amendment removed in conference committee? If you don't know who your representative is, you can find out here.
Thanks all for letting me vent.
Update: Can someone explain to me how it is that our national Senate rejects 3 anti-immigrant amendments on the same two days that the MA Senate passes 4 of them? WTF?