Protesters rallied outside Holyoke City Hall to stand against ICE and a proposed resolution by two Holyoke City Councilors.
Reminder Publishing photo by Tyler Garnet
HOLYOKE — On Sept. 9, citizens and residents gathered outside Holyoke City Hall to demonstrate and demand that the city should not work or collaborate with ICE and its unconstitutional abductions.
The rally featured local advocate groups including The Real Majority Holyoke and Indivisible Northampton-Swing Left Western Massachusetts.
Organizer Claire McGale stated, “I want everyone in Holyoke to know that some on City Council are actively betraying 60% of our city’s population. We will show up in force at City Hall to demand that the City Council end any efforts to establish cooperation with ICE.”
For background, at the June 17 City Council meeting, City Councilors Kevin Jourdain and Linda Vacon introduced a resolution to declare that Holyoke is not a sanctuary city. The resolution came after the federal government possibly identified the city as such.
They wanted the resolution to be adopted by the City Council and a copy be transmitted to the Department of Homeland Security, Holyoke’s federal delegation and the White House. The resolution called for all city departments to follow federal laws and cooperate with immigration enforcement when applying for federal grants.
Vacon and Jourdain argued that $10 million of federal funds for schools, police and other departments could be at risk if the city did not comply with immigration laws.
The resolution has been tabled since, but organizers rallied during the Development and Government Relations Committee meeting due to the item being administratively laid on the table.
Per City Council Rule 9P, “Any order not acted on within 45 business days shall be deemed tabled. Items within this section are laid on the table by virtue of being in the committee more than 45 days. Discussion of these items is unlikely, but any item may be removed from the table upon motion of the committee.”
There is no public comment at the DGR Committee meeting, but organizers still wanted their voices to be heard. Organizers said the “Not a Sanctuary City” order intentionally has tricky wording.
In January, following the presidential election, Mayor Joshua Garcia made a public statement solidifying and confirming the city’s support of its residents, including the undocumented community.
When the lists of sanctuary jurisdictions started to be published, Garcia said he was following the example of other Massachusetts mayors who noted the lack of a uniform definition of a sanctuary city and rejected the designation on that basis.
Garcia sent a press release to Reminder Publishing to reinforce his stance from January and provided clarity on the current situation.
He said, “As I have stated previously, to my knowledge, there is no universally accepted definition of a ‘sanctuary city,’ and Holyoke is not, by any definition, a sanctuary city. The order put forward by the two City Councilors also advocates cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security and directives from the federal government. I want to make clear that it is not up to the City Council to declare such a policy. That decision is up to the mayor. I also want to make clear that we do not do the work of the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.”
Garcia continued, “My priority as mayor is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all Holyoke residents, regardless of their background. This includes fostering trust between our community and local law enforcement. I have expressed concerns that federal immigration actions, such as the recent Department of Homeland Security announcement allowing ICE and CBP to conduct operations in sensitive areas such as schools and churches, could undermine public safety by making residents hesitant to call 911 or cooperate with police due to fear of deportation.”
The item was discussed at the Sept. 9 DGR meeting and after going back and forth with multiple 2-2 ties, the committee finally approved tabling the motion to a future committee meeting. City Councilor Patti Devine was absent from the meeting and could not break the initial tie.
City Councilor Juan Anderson-Burgos, who serves on the DGR Committee, wanted the item to be tabled so that Jourdain and Vacon could be present to discuss the resolution.
City Councilor Michael Sullivan wanted to see the item sent to the full City Council for a discussion amongst each council member because of its “national importance.”
City Councilor Kocayne Givner, who chairs the DGR Committee, said she would like anyone involved or concerned with the resolution to first discuss it at a committee meeting. Givner said she is open to discussing the item at the next October meeting since the agenda for the Sept. 9 meeting was already “so full.”
Meeting dates and agendas can be found Holyoke.org.
