Sherriff Donna Buckley spoke on the Falmouth Green yesterday about the PROTECT act that is moving through the Massachusetts legislative process. Sheriff Buckley and an Indivisible Falmouth volunteer crafted the letter below that we hope you will paste into an email and to send out to Senator Fernandes or Cyr.
The deadline for public comment is March 30th so it’s urgent! (DOC is Department of Corrections.)
Please paste the text below into an email, add your name and address, edit as you see fit, and send to Senator Cyr or Fernandes, whichever is your senator. (If you don’t know it’s fine to send to both!)
Cc Michael.connolly@masenate.gov.
Dear Senator________
As the PROTECT Act has passed through the Massachusetts House and moves to the Senate, we are looking to the Senate to make sure several key points are addressed in the final version of the bill.
There should not be provisions for ANY 287g agreements, including possible renewal of the present agreement with the DOC or allowing any new 287g agreements. Why are we using Massachusetts jails like Plymouth, to house innocent people? Is the money Massachusetts receives worth it? DOC should not be supporting the work of ICE at any price.
Furthermore, the majority of ICE arrests in Massachusetts are families, including children whose only crime is being undocumented. They are primarily targeted due to the color of their skin, or the language they speak. They are not criminals, and should not be detained.
A requirement for warrants signed by a judge must be included in this legislation.
We must include a provision requiring that ICE agents identify themselves and not wear face masks. The excuse that they wear masks to protect themselves has been disproven, given that ICE agents deployed to airports, supposedly to support TSA agents, don’t wear masks.
I stand out most weekends to protest the actions of ICE. We can’t normalize this behavior!
Please make sure these concerns are addressed in the final bill. We expect more from our Massachusetts legislators.
Sincerely,
________________________________
please add your address
Indivisible Outer Cape 