To the Editor:
I recently learned that approximately 700 kids are missing from our neighboring Framingham public schools in large part due to ICE and anti-immigrant activity creating an environment of distrust and perceived lack of safety.
As a public school parent myself, this is extremely troubling. If this is happening in just one district, the effects across Massachusetts of students not being in school could be disastrous for our children and the future of our state. Massachusetts has stood up to ICE but we could be doing much more.
Our country was once the Land of Opportunity and the home of the American Dream with our public education system being an integral part of that. Keeping kids away from school due to the very real fears that they or their family members may be detained by ICE for the simple act of trying to go to school is something we must fix immediately. Individuals and activists groups can be powerful and have shown that we in Massachusetts do not want ICE tearing apart our communities but we need Governor Healey and the legislature to step up to make policy change to reinforce our actions, getting kids back in school and families back to living their everyday lives without fear. Massachusetts is the only state with a Democratic Governor and Democratic Legislature to still have a statewide 287(g) agreement with ICE. I am calling on Governor Healey to end this collaboration with a stroke of the pen.
Additionally, Beacon Hill should make it clear: state and local law enforcement should not be assisting ICE and should not be acting as ICE agents.
Doing so makes us all less safe as people become afraid to report crimes, retreat further from public life, and more children are denied an education. Our legislators must support and pass the Safe Communities Act, the Dignity Not Deportations Bill, and the PROTECT Act. Children of any immigration status need to be in school and Massachusetts must do more on their behalf.
Jennifer Debin
Sherborn, MA
