Category — Campaign Information

Monday (4/9): Help Amherst Preserve our Civil Rights

Join us at 6:30 PM on Monday April 9 at Amherst Town Hall in front of the Amherst Select Board to support a proposed town bylaw (Article 29 on the Amherst Town Warrant) to protect immigrants and to stop the Federal Government’s “Secure Communities” Program

MONDAY, APRIL 9th at the Amherst Town Hall, 2nd Floor
• 6:30-6:45 PM: opportunity to give public comments
• 8:15-8:45 PM (roughly): Article 29 formally presented before the Amherst Select Board
*** Come to a meeting in between the above 2 agenda items from 7:00-8:15 PM at Amherst Town Hall, 1st floor, for supporters of Article 29 to plan outreach to Amherst Town Meeting Members

In May 2012, the Amherst Town Meeting (a 250-member governance body for the town) will vote on a first-of-its-kind proposed bylaw that would take a step in preventing Federal Immigration authorities from tasking the Amherst police department in the enforcement of federal immigration policies. These policies already cause millions of undocumented immigrants living in the United States to live in constant fear and isolation.

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The resolution opposing the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) will be on the agenda of the Northampton City Council on Thursday, February 16.

Check out the Facebook event here!

The resolution is a rejection of the (NDAA), signed by President Obama on December 31st. The NDAA allows the indefinite detention of any personaccused of a “belligerent act” without charge or trial, including American citizens. This resolution sends a strong message to the federal government that such civil rights violations are intolerable.

If passed, Northampton would be the first municipality in Massachusetts to pass a resolution of this nature. Join us in the City Council chambers at 7pm!

Last night (September 1, 2011), Northampton City Council passed a resolution that indicated the city’s desire to opt out of not only the failed federal program “Secure Communities”, but all “federal law enforcement programs relating to immigration enforcement”.  The resolution went on to establish a “sanctuary” clause:

The vote was not only unanimous, but the resolution was amended to include each and every city councilor as a co-sponsor. The Northampton Chief of Police was also an original co-sponsor of the resolution. The 9-member council passed the resolution 9-0, and (without the amended full list of co-sponsors) can be found on the Northampton City Council website.

The vote follows a declaration to opt-out of Secure Communities nearly two months ago by the Springfield City Council – sponsored and led by Councilor Amaad Rivera.

The resolution was passed after approximately 6 months of dialogue and work with the police department and city councilors by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts.  The three organizations launched the Preserving Our Civil Rights campaign (http://preservingcivilrights.org) on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in January, 2011.

“This is a good first step in our campaign to preserve our civil rights,” Emma Roderick, organizer for BORDC stated. Next for the campaign is addressing PATRIOT Act –based “fusion centers” and creating more transparency about racial demographics in arrest and conviction records.