Op-Ed: In Support of Rep. Capuano

SOMERVILLE, MA – The following letter to the editor was submitted by Somerville resident and Director of Legislative Affairs at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Amy Grunder.

To the editor:

I would like to respond to "Capuano Chooses Politics Over Somerville," an Op-Ed published in the Somerville Patch on January 23rd.

Somerville's "sanctuary city" ordinance, one of six in Massachusetts, conforms with federal law, and President Trump's threats to withhold federal money from the over 350 towns, cities, and states that decline to enforce federal immigration law are on thin ice, constitutionally speaking. (Remember the 10th Amendment?) His Administration's ambition to deport anywhere from 2 to 11 million people will be impossible to achieve without co-opting local police resources to do the federal government's job - something these ordinances are designed to prohibit.

The recent appointment of an immigration hardliner from FAIR - an organization with white supremacist origins - to a senior position at the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol should be a wake up call. It's time for Massachusetts to make a stand, not to cower while members of our communities are targeted. Representative Capuano should be commended for serving all of his constituents, including our immigrant friends and neighbors in Somerville.

The views expressed in this letter are solely the writer's and not reflective of Patch.

SEE ALSO: Op-Ed: Capuano Chooses Politics Over Somerville

Image via Rep. Michael Capuano Twitter