City Councilor Tito Jackson (Roxbury) ended today's council meeting by quoting Martin Niemoller's famous poem - and vowing to fight for Boston immigrants.
Jackson said his office had gotten an outpouring of "hatred and anger" when he called for Boston to go beyond the measures the council has already approved and formally declare itself a sanctuary city.
"I feel much more encouraged" because he's now getting a flood of calls of support, he said.
Jackson said he will fight to protect "undocumented" immigrants, because, as former state Rep. Mel King said, "no human can be illegal."
"Humans and the human spirit can never be illegal," he said.
"We must not only act, we must ask ourselves what does 'one nation under God, with liberty and and justice' for all really mean?" he said. "And how do we make that a reality for all Bostonians."
He gave a special nod to Councilor Josh Zakim (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway) for continuing the work of his late father - the head of the local ADL chapter - in sponsoring the initial 2014 resolution to protect immigrants.
"The clear majority of undocumented workers in Boston simply work hard daily to take cre of themselves and their families," and they deserve the right to go to police if they are threatened or attacked, their children deserve to be safe in schools, knowing BPS will not participate in an federal sweeps, they and their families need to feel safe going to a doctor when they're sick, he said.
Other councilors gave him a round of applause.
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Comments
Why do these politicians
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 2:33pm
Why do these politicians insist on lumping illegal and legal immigrants together? It is dishonest and insulting to legal immigrants.
Oh, sorry
By adamg
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 2:43pm
He was actually talking specifically about undocumented immigrants.
But what he said would extend to legal ones facing endless "papers please" searches like the ones Joe Arpaio liked to do in Arizona.
Arpaio....
By THE_WIZ
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 2:55pm
Right because in this state that's possible?
Can you say money grab??
Just think of all the budding young lawyer "callers" that would genuinely love to help those disenfranchised....
Adam, your omission gives away your stance....not as bad as da Globe, but.....
How do you know
By ian
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:10pm
if someone's undocumented or not without seeing their papers? Should all citizens start having to carry proof of citizenship everywhere we go, or should we just start blatantly racially profiling everyone who "looks illegal"?
Well having a state issued ID
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:54pm
was proof of citizenship at one point!
And?
By ian
Thu, 11/17/2016 - 7:55am
You're still weren't required to carry one around at all times, to be presented to law enforcement at their request. Unless Massachusetts used to be a lot more fascist than I remember...
Oh Oh I Know The Answer....
By BlackKat
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:40pm
It's easy, all we need to do is have a clear symbol that can identify people by their category sewn onto all their clothes.... oh wait a second.
Oh, sorry
By RickC
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:03pm
He's talking about not cooperating with federal immigration officals from carrying out their duties. If an iillegal immigrant who should have been deported ends up killing someone Tito might change his stance.
That scenario is not likely.
By Felicity
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 8:02pm
Immigrants are less likely to commit crime, than natural-born citizens.
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/researc...
Great
By THE_WIZ
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 2:39pm
Can we sue him for squandering our tax dollars?
No human being is 'inherently' illegal until they break the law.
Tito, stop pandering--for as many hand outs, how many votes do you receive? Did it work for the Dems?
Boston is a majority minority City, and Tito still wouldn't be the choice, should the minority vote actually galvanize and propagate one, count em, 1 person to represent and in turn run.
Tito is just a hollow suit ripoff artist...even his "constituency" knows it.
Great!
By erik g
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:01pm
Sounds like he'd be a breeze to defeat in an election. You should run for his office! Apparently no one votes for him, or indeed for any member of the Democratic party in this fine Commonwealth, and even his constituents are just pretending to support him because, uh, reasons. Let us know how it goes, I can barely wait for the 2018 elections!
Instead of such
By THE_WIZ
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:03pm
Knee jerk sophomore-ism.
You could address the points made, triangulate, and in turn make your point, if there is one.
NM, brandish those broad, emotive strokes.
It's hard
By lbb
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:10pm
To respond to someone.
Who can only communicate.
In sentence fragments.
imagine
By THE_WIZ
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:13pm
How the old timers felt about EE CUMMINGS.
yeah...
By John-W
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 5:10pm
...your posts are fucking poetry.
Well, let's see here
By erik g
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:27pm
In your original comment, you made completely baseless accusations of pandering, made a cryptically racist dig at Tito being in office only because he's a minority, and asked a hypothetical question so breathtakingly stupid that I have to assume you either slept through ninth grade civics class or suffer from a cognitive impairment. Not a whole lot for me to triangulate on, fella. You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter.
Boston is not a majority minority city
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:23pm
It has a majority so called white population. Metro Boston and the state has a majority white population, as does the U.S. as a whole.
Yes, you are right, if barely
By adamg
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 6:40pm
Census statistics show Boston with a non-Hispanic white population of 54% as of 2014.
It is by FAR a majority-minority city
By MassMade
Thu, 11/17/2016 - 10:18am
It is 54% white, and white hispanic.
In 2000 it was 49.5% non-hispanic White
In 2010 it was 47% non-hispanic White
In 2015 it is 44.6% non hispanic White
Minorities composed 55.4% of the population last year
The state is 72.6% white as of 2015
The metro area is ~68% white as of 2015
65.7% white excluding New Hampshire counties
http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/s...
you gotta be careful with how you read statistics.
"No human being is
By anon
Thu, 11/17/2016 - 7:28am
"No human being is 'inherently' illegal until they break the law."
What?? Then the ACTION is illegal, not the HUMAN BEING.
None of these guys see the end game?
By EM Painter
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:05pm
College campuses and massively Democratic cities threaten to give up federal funding from an all Republican Congress...
I'll give them this if they follow through, at least for once they put the money where the mouth is.
End game...
By THE_WIZ
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:12pm
For a career politician in the parochial burgs of the Bean?
I think it's got more to do with a pension and 401k than anything else....
Like the MBTA, they get paid if they "show up" or not..
But hey, "working families all the way." Until there's cuts, then we go after the little guys despite how top heavy and redundant the "white shirt" Admin is....
Tito Jackson quoting an admitted anti-Semite?
By O-FISH-L
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:16pm
Martin Neimoller was an admitted anti-Semite. I don't think any of the groups that "they came for" were criminal illegal aliens in Germany so he might as well have quoted Robert Frost or Aesop's Fables. Equally irrelevant. Clown.
You can't be serious
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:27pm
Unless "seriously stupid" is your game.
Go hug your 3/5ths of a girlfriend already.
You must be new here
By erik g
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:18pm
Fish is here to say stupid shit and chew bubblegum. And he's all out of bubblegum.
Classy
By Roman
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 8:07pm
Stay classy lefties, stay classy.
Anti Semite?
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 3:37pm
Ah yes, that must be why he has some serious rockspace dedicated to him at the HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL.
Crawl back in your hate hole, please.
I don't care
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:18pm
whether people are legally or illegally in the U.S. as long as they are working and supporting themselves and their families and paying taxes. I would prefer a working, bill paying illegal alien any day over a welfare collecting U.S. citizen.
Read the link on Niemöller. Admits his anti-Semitism.
By O-FISH-L
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:29pm
See Dick Run
By BlackKat
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 4:43pm
Did you miss the words regret and what follows Nonetheless?
I used to associate the right with some form of Christianity
By ian
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 5:31pm
but it's become pretty clear this election season that they have no idea what the concepts of "apology" "regret" and "forgiveness" are...
I think it's actually spelled
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 5:04pm
I think it's actually spelled Niemoller. You have the i and e transposed. Although it's Niemöller if you want to be absolutely correct.
I am concerned that the political climate coming from the top will find it convenient to blame my ethnicity for some economic plight at some point in the next 4 years. And then the same things we have seen increasingly happening to latinos and muslims will happen to me. And perhaps there will indeed be no one left to speak up for me if we don't speak up now against that type of behavior.
Thanks
By adamg
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 6:35pm
Spelling fixed, at least to the American style (i.e., no umlaut).
Run Tito Run
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 5:09pm
Tito against Marty for Mayor. A grudge match between two southpaws who will move to the left and throw wild left hooks at each other. Should make for an entertaining summer.
I really hope Tito runs
By anon
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 5:37pm
I really hope Tito runs against Mayor Walsh next year!
No Chance
By bosguy22
Thu, 11/17/2016 - 8:52am
Unless Tito starts building that war chest. Big dinners at Grill 23 and Abe & Louis's doesn't help, nor does springing for $500 of chinese food from Chef Chow's. He's up to a whopping $18k in the warchest vs. Marty's $1.6 million.
Grateful for Councilor Jackson
By Felicity
Wed, 11/16/2016 - 8:35pm
Tito Jackson is one of the most courageous, vocal, productive, and engaged councilors we have. I have huge respect for him and his leadership!
Law or no Law?
By Foxrox
Thu, 11/17/2016 - 9:25am
I came here as an emigrant the
right way. No sympathy for those
illegally enter this country. I
despise the fascist, that will
be our next president,But on
one point he's right.We either
have laws or not.Get rid of
this sanctuary city nonsense.
Stop blurring the lines of
legal alien v undocumented
migrant.
Illegal immigrants take jobs
By Steven Gallanter
Thu, 11/17/2016 - 1:43am
Illegal immigrants take jobs from teenagers, especially blacks and Latinos. The idea that a state has a "right" to nullify Federal law was the justification for both slavery and segregation yet somehow it is A-OK to allow illegal immigration that keeps U.S. citizens out of work especially in the hospitality industry.
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