Framingham Vigil Highlights Immigration Raids and Deportation

FRAMINGHAM, MA - More than 50 individuals participated in a vigil in Framingham united against immigration raids and working to keep families together against deportation.

On Wednesday evening, Feb. 17, students, parents, teachers, and community members held a vigil in front of of the Memorial Building in downtown Framingham.

Nelson Hernandez, a father of three, including one child born in the U.S., who has been living in Framingham for eight years, spoke during the vigil.

“When the raids were happening around Christmas time, I had to sit down with my children and make a plan B in case our home was raided,” said Hernandez. “This was so traumatic for my children - to think their dad could not come home.”

He said Framingham families are waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court decision on Deferred Action for Parents of American children and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DAPA/DACA) to extend DACA and DAPA to live in their community in town, go to school and work, and take care of their families without fear of deportation.

Immigrant parents and students of La Voz de la Comunidad leader Nelson Hernandez, Laura Lopez Rubi and her daughter Tania Jaime, Sandra Perez Macias and Ana Moura shared testimonies of why they support Deferred Action for Parents of American children and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DAPA/DACA) for themselves or other parents and children.

Fuller Middle School teacher Rosaura Quirarte-­Perez and Framingham Teachers Association Co-President Sarah McKeon spoke about how they see the detrimental effects of the threat of raids and deportations on their immigrant students.McKeon is also a kindergarten teacher at Brophy Elementary.

Local immigration attorney and activist Antonio Massa Viana and his daughter Cecilia, a middle school student, played and sang Imagine by John Lennon for the crowd.

Framingham Town Manager Robert Halpin, Sen. Karen Spilka, Rep. Tom Sannicandro, Rep. Chris Walsh, Rep. Carmine Gentile and State Sen. James Eldridge also attend the vigil. The Framingham legislative delegation spoke in favor of Framingham’s immigrant neighbors and the importance keeping families together for our community.

Rev. Kathleen Hepler of First Parish UU Church on Vernon Street shared a prayer during the vigil.

WSRO radio general manager Ilma PaixaÞo shared her vision of building a community with love, not walls.

The vigil was a timely response to anti­-immigrant sentiment in this year’s presidential race by candidates and political maneuvers such as recent immigration raids and stalling Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DACA/DAPA), said organizers in a press release.

Over New Year’s weekend, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.) officials detained 121 adults and children in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. The raids have targeted hundreds of families­­ mostly women and children from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador who are seeking asylum.

On January 19, the Supreme Court announced it would rule on DACA/DAPA before the 2016 presidential election.

According to the Center for American Progress, the original DACA program announced in June 2012 and the expanded DACA and the new DAPA program announced in February 2015 would allow approximately 5 million undocumented immigrants, including 65,000 Massachusetts families, the opportunity to apply for temporary protection from deportation and a work permit.

La Voz de la Comunidad, a volunteer membership­-based group of immigrant parents, family and community members dedicated to supporting children and building our voice in the schools and in Framingham, was a sponsor of the vigil. The organization’s priorities are outreach, organizing, and advocacy around immigrant rights and education.