Boston uses taxpayer funds to support anti-ICE groups providing services to illegal aliens

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced on Thursday that the city would award taxpayer funds to more than a dozen nonprofit organizations that provide services to illegal aliens, according to a city press release.

"Mayor Michelle Wu and the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) today announced that the City is awarding $650,000 in grants to 13 nonprofits to increase the capacity of immigrant-serving organizations to provide immigration-related legal services and support the legal needs of immigrant workers," the press release read.

It noted that the organizations will each receive between $10,000 and $100,000 to provide programs to illegal immigrants, including "Know Your Rights training, forms assistance, and legal consultation and representation in immigration and labor violation cases."

The 13 organizations awarded with grants included the Brazilian Worker Center, Center to Support Immigrant Organization/Equity Now and Beyond, Centro Presente, Chinese Progressive Association, Everett Haitian Community Center, Gilbert Albert Community Center, Justice at Work, Lawyers for Civil Rights, Mabel Center for Immigrant Justice, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Rian Immigrant Center, Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice, and Vietnamese American Civic Association, Inc.

'Melt ICE. Smash borders.'

The Immigrant Workers' Rights Grant program, created by the Mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement, will fund the grants through the city's fiscal year 2024 operating budget.

Wu stated, "Boston is a city of immigrants, and we all benefit from the contributions of immigrant communities in our neighborhoods."

"Our immigration system is nearly impossible to navigate alone, so I'm grateful to MOIA and these organizations for helping our immigrant residents better access legal services and much needed supports," she added.

Monique Tú Nguyen, executive director of the mayor's Office for Immigrant Advancement, said expanding the ability to provide legal services will help "ensure that immigrants understand their rights and have the resources to navigate a complex legal system."

The Daily Caller News Foundation reported that several of the organizations selected to receive the funds have been vocally anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the news outlet, the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition has supported "ending ICE detention agreements."

ICE places detainer requests on illegal aliens whom local and state authorities have arrested for crimes unrelated to their illegal immigration status. The request asks law enforcement agencies to keep the individual in custody up to 48 hours past their release date so that ICE agents can apprehend the suspect and transfer them into federal custody to face immigration proceedings.

Last year, the MIRA Coalition posted on X, "Our immigration system locks up hundreds of thousands of immigrants unnecessarily every year, separating people from their loved ones and exposing them to inhumane conditions of confinement."

The group encouraged Massachusetts residents to vote to prohibit state entities from forming contracts with ICE.

Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice has also made a number of comments against the federal immigration agency, including calling it "racist."

In October, the group wrote on X, "Melt ICE. Smash borders."

"Every time someone is transfered [sic] instead of released is just another example of ICE's cruelty. Free them all and make our communities whole again," the organization wrote in another post.

"When we say that ICE is an institution designed to instill terror and cause suffering, this is exactly what we mean. They can't even figure out how to not deport citizens. You expect them to do anything else right? Yeah, nope!" the group stated.

Rian Immigration Center has previously participated in protests against ICE, according to posts on its X account.

Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told Blaze News, "The responsibility for the migrant crisis Massachusetts is currently facing rests solely with executive and legislative leadership on Beacon Hill. First migrants maxed out our shelter system, then they maxed out hotels which were rented for them, now they've maxed out the overflow sites and are about to encroach upon our national defense installations. Governor Healey has proven time and time again that she is willing to do just about anything except address the root cause of the issue. Until Beacon Hill addresses the factors that are making us a magnet for people around the world, this problem is only going to continue to get worse."

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