The Somerville City Council approved a resolution on Nov. 26 reaffirming Somerville as a “Welcoming Community for justice, equity, and inclusion.” The resolution reconfirmed Somerville’s status as a sanctuary city and communicated the city’s stance on immigration in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s election.
The resolution was approved by the city council after it was sent to the Legislative Matters Committee for minor wording changes. The finalized document vows to “protect the safety, dignity, and rights of immigrants, migrants, asylum seekers, asylees, and refugees.”
Somerville, with a foreign-born population of over 20%, has been a sanctuary city since 1987. The city has periodically revised and reaffirmed its original sanctuary resolution as necessary. This initial resolution expressed the city’s desire to protect its immigrant population, established that city employees are not required to disclose any residents immigration status and outlined the expectation that no city-level social services would be contingent upon immigration status.
City Councilor-at-Large Will Mbah, who sponsored the most recent resolution, hopes that it will help make residents feel safer.
“We are living in uncertain times. We just really need to reaffirm some of this long standing commitment to be a sanctuary city and a welcoming community, emphasizing justice, equity and inclusion for the immigrant population,” Mbah said.
Maria Teresa Nagel, director of Somerville’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, explained that the resolution was offered in part to alleviate residents’ fears following the election of Trump.
“[The election] has led to a considerable amount of fear, particularly among families with younger children [and] children in schools, of possibly being ripped away from their kids,” she said. “And because of that, it was very important for our constituents to know where we stand as a city.”
The day following the election, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne released a statement explaining the city government’s resolve to “protect Somerville’s core values of diversity, equality, and inclusion” in the face of another Trump presidency.
This resolution was specifically meant to support the policies outlined in the 2019 Somerville Welcoming Community Ordinance, which, according to City Councilor and resolution sponsor Judy Pineda Neufeld, is one of the strongest policies of its kind in the state. The ordinance outlines regulations for police engagements and interactions with federal immigration authorities. While the ordinance created specific guidelines, the resolution had a different purpose.
“An ordinance is where specific actions that are required of the city are made, and resolution is really more of a statement of values,” Neufeld explained.
Somerville resident Rebecca Rogers feels that the resolution is somewhat performative, arguing that “the high housing cost is a bigger barrier [to immigration] than anything else.” Despite this, Rogers still sees practical value in Somerville’s sanctuary city practices.
She noted the importance of letting people know that anybody can access city services, and approved of the stated intent to not share immigration status. “So that’s a good baseline that’s not performative, that’s real,” Rogers said.
Rogers also found that immigration is not a controversial topic among Somerville residents.
“People have really strong and really mixed feelings in terms of quality of life and how welcoming the city wants to be; … I don’t hear that on the immigration issue,” she said.
Outside of Somerville, however, sanctuary cities have become a controversial topic in wake of the election of Trump. After several high profile arrests of undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts, there has been direct criticism of Massachusetts sanctuary cities, with some arguing that they impede federal law enforcement’s ability to prosecute criminals.
Supporters of this resolution argue that this is a misunderstanding of what a sanctuary city is.
“There are some folks who believe that that means that ICE and the federal government cannot come into the city. That is not what it means,” Nagel said. “There is absolutely no law, no legal recourse that exists to prevent the federal government from coming into any municipality.”
Some, like Mbah, argue that being a sanctuary city actually makes communities safer because it allows people to come forward with issues without fear of deportation.
“People will be able to feel comfortable to report crimes and not feel like, ‘I'm gonna get myself in trouble,’” Mbah said.
Supporters of the resolution also contend that these policies will allow for and encourage civic participation from all residents.
“Your immigration status, the language you speak, the country you’re from … is not a barrier to you accessing city services, to you being able to participate in civic engagement, to you being able to be a leader in the community,” Nagel said.
With heightened tension after the election, some see this move as a necessary step to protect the Somerville community and its residents.
“I think there’s been a lot of rhetoric of divisiveness,” Nagel said. “Regardless of who someone voted for or who someone wished they had voted for, we’re one community, and it’s important that we stand together.”
