Report based on Senate transcripts compiled by State House News Service.
Two area state senators were among a baker’s dozen this week slamming the Trump administration over techniques used during immigration law enforcement.
Sens. Barry R. Finegold and Pavel M. Payano joined Senate President Karen E. Spilka during an informal session Monday in highlighting concerns over free speech and high-handed raids.
“It’s not okay that people are abducted in the middle of the street without due process. It’s not okay when you have college students that don’t want their name to be affiliated with an article they write in a college newspaper. It’s not okay when there is fear and retaliation in higher education. It’s not okay when a judge gets arrested,” Finegold told his colleagues. He asked them to give Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell the money she needs “keep up with these lawsuits” against the administration.
Payano spoke of his family’s personal experience emigrating to the United States.
“Close to 60 years ago, my father came to this country to escape political persecution. At 16, he was a headstrong, opinionated teenager. The government of his home country, the Dominican Republic, was not a fan of his views. They held him and his younger brother as a threat because he had the courage to speak out. He was fortunate enough to be given a choice: self-exile, or the real risk of being detained without trial, without rights, without recourse. He told my grandfather that if they didn’t leave, my father and uncle would probably face torture or death.”
He said Washington’s current tendency to name scapegoats, attack education and weaken civil rights and news media reporting are well-known tactics aimed at eroding democracy.
“Eventually, the people once free are left with nothing but the illusion of liberty. This is how democracy falls, not with a loud crash, but with quiet, calculated steps. It falls when people become complacent, when citizens fail to understand that democracy requires constant care, constant defense and active participation,” Payano explained.
Finegold said the state’s best defense is “keeping young people here in the Commonwealth” by making Massachusetts more affordable. He pointed out population dictates the state’s strength in Washington. “We can’t afford to lose another congressperson. We can’t afford for our Electoral College votes to go to another state.”
Spilka said “America is becoming unrecognizable,” adding, “I’m afraid we are entering a dark chapter of our nation’s history.”