The cities of Somerville and Chelsea filed a lawsuit in a Massachusetts district court challenging federal immigration policy on Feb. 24. The cities, represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights, argue that recent federal actions unconstitutionally pressure sanctuary cities to participate in federal immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit claims that President Donald Trump’s administration’s directives ending federal funding to sanctuary cities violate constitutional principles such as separation of powers, due process and states’ rights.
“The president cannot use federal funds as a weapon to bend cities to his will,” Oren Sellstrom, the litigation director at Lawyers for Civil Rights, said. “He cannot sign executive orders and with the stroke of a pen, take away the right of both governments to make decisions that keep their residents safe.”
Local officials argue that they are best equipped to meet their residents’ needs and that sanctuary city policies ultimately serve the public safety of their communities.
“Our residents know that communities are safer when police focus on preventing crimes and leave federal immigration enforcement to the feds,” Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said.
“When immigrants feel safe, our entire community is safer,” Somerville City Council President Judy Pineda Neufeld said. “We’ve seen firsthand that public safety is best served when trust between law enforcement and the community is strong. So today, Somerville stands with Chelsea and with every sanctuary city across the country to say, ‘We will not be silenced.’”
“These punitive actions seek to instill fear in our communities and undermine local governments that are doing the work of serving and protecting all of our residents,” Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez stated in a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “We will not allow federal policies to dictate how we can care for people that call Chelsea home.”
The lawsuit also asks the court to affirm that Somerville and Chelsea are not attempting to interfere with federal law enforcement by upholding their sanctuary city policies.
“As a welcoming community, we keep our officers focused on the job they are trained and hired to do, which is local public safety,” Ballantyne said. “That means they neither carry out nor do they interfere with federal immigration enforcement.”
Ballantyne stressed that Somerville should not have to divert its limited resources to federal immigration enforcement.
“They want to tell our traffic cops to shift time away from making sure kids get safely to school and workers to their jobs and to instead carry out family separation,” Ballantyne said. “They want our brave police officers to reduce resources for protecting victims of domestic violence or for stopping drunk drivers and instead to raid our schools, workplaces, hospitals and churches.”
Officials of Somerville and Chelsea see the threat of losing federal funding without due process for upholding their sanctuary policies as a direct attack on their communities and residents.
“We know that weaponizing federal funding threatens the health and safety of all residents, be it your neighbor who relies on Meals on Wheels for dinner or a veteran who needs help accessing job resources,” Ballantyne said.
A Somerville resident who works in Chelsea said she was glad to hear about the legal action and “felt very proud” to be working and living in the two cities.
“I definitely think it feels a lot more scary — the idea that local law enforcement could be partnering with [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. I know that New Hampshire has already started that process, which makes me really scared for my friends who live and attend school there,” she said.
Another Somerville resident, Tristan, expressed his wish that the cities would comply with federal immigration enforcement, though other residents might not outwardly voice similar opinions.
“They should assist in enforcing federal law,” he said. “At this point, it’s gone way too out of control.”
Overall, a strong showing of public support was evident at the press conference.
Somerville and Chelsea leaders stressed the importance of the lawsuit in safeguarding the constitutional right for local affairs to be handled at the state level by those who best understand their constituents’ interests.
“This lawsuit is not just about Somerville; it’s not just about Chelsea,” Neufeld said. “It’s about the fundamental rights of our cities and towns across the country to decide how best to keep our residents safe.”
“We urge the administration to honor our constitution and let us serve our communities as we know best,” Ballantyne said.
