The Amherst Town Council voted Monday night to pass a resolution urging Massachusetts state and local officials to hold federal officers, including federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, accountable when they violate Massachusetts criminal law. Of the councilors who voted, the vote was unanimous with 9 councilors in support. Two councilors abstained and two were absent from the vote.
Read more about the resolution and why it matters:
“I hope Amherst’s resolution kicks off a wave of similar resolutions in cities and towns across the state,” said the measure’s lead sponsor.
NPR: Amherst passes resolution urging state officials to prosecute ICE agents for crimes
“Silence is complicity,” Brevik said. “It’s our job to make sure that we are saying these things loudly as a form of protection, to say if ICE agents commit crimes like we’ve seen them commit across the nation and again here in Massachusetts, that they will be prosecuted.”
“When our constitutional rights, our civil liberties and our very lives come under attack by Trump’s lawless agents, we need every public official to stand with the people to fight back,” said Amherst resident Jeff Conant, who helped organize public support for the resolution. “This common sense resolution by our town council should serve as a model for every town and city in the Commonwealth and across the nation.”
Daily Hampshire Gazette: Amherst Town Council takes a stand against ICE
“It is not merely symbolic,” said Josna Rege of District 1. “It calls for actions that can make a real difference in the lives of our residents, many of whom are in crisis, afraid to speak up for fear they will become the next target.”