Bi-partisan group gives negative ratings to most Massachusetts
legislators
A majority of Massachusetts state senators and legislators have received grades of D
and F from the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform (MCIR). The low
grades are based on their having voted for, and/or sponsored, legislation that: 1)
legitimizes and rewards illegal immigration and/or 2) favors the interests of workers
unlawfully present, and employers who profit from exploiting unauthorized
immigrants, thereby harming American and legal immigrant workers, as well as
employers who restrict hiring to legal workers.
The ratings and supporting data are shown on the attached spreadsheet and on the
MCIR website.
Specific pieces of legislation used in compiling the “report cards” include the bill
authorizing drivers’ licenses for persons in the country unlawfully, the only
immigration-related bill that actually passed during the current session.
Other harmful legislation that was introduced but did not come to a floor vote were:
* Bill H.2418 /S.1579, preventing cooperation between state law enforcement
and federal immigration authorities in locating and removing criminal aliens;
* Bill S.1850, providing COVID stimulus checks to persons ineligible for Federal
payments due to their unlawful status;
* Bill H.1352, providing in-State tuition for illegal immigrants.
Significantly, the legislature took these actions during an unprecedented surge of
illegal immigration. Since January 1, 2021, the Center for Immigration Studies reports
that 1.2 million persons have entered the country without legal authorization,
according to the New York Times. The majority of respondents in a recent NPR poll
characterized this surge as an “invasion.”
The bill authorizing drivers’ licenses for unauthorized immigrants would make
Massachusetts a magnet for immigrants unlawfully present in states that do not offer
them drivers’ licenses.
That bill would also undermine the slow progress in building a robust federal/state
system of identification documents that has been in progress since the 9/11 attacks
two decades ago. In explaining his veto of the bill, Governor Baker noted that it
would enable issuance of drivers’ licenses to persons with easily falsifiable documents. Thus, “a standard Massachusetts driver's license will no longer confirm
that a person is who they say they are.” The legislature responded by overriding his
veto.
The news on drivers’ licenses is not all bad. Five Democratic senators joined three
Republicans in voting against the driver’s license bill, as did ten Democratic
representatives and all House Republicans.
Meanwhile four representatives introduced H.4162 -- An Act to Protect Workers in
Massachusetts. That bill would require Massachusetts employers to screen all job
applicants using E-Verify, the highly reliable on-line system of verification already
used by the federal government, federal contractors in other states, and in the millions
of businesses nationwide.
MCIR’s effort to improve access to information about legislators’ voting records on
immigration stems from the conviction that lack of transparency is a particular
problem in a legislature dominated by one party, where most legislators run
unopposed, and information on voting records is difficult to obtain.
About MCIR
MCIR is nonpartisan and its members range from right to left, but are united by the
belief that current levels of immigration are costly to the taxpayers, reduce the wages
of, and/or take jobs from, working Americans, accelerate population growth which
harms the environment, and reduce quality of life.
Illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers more than $100 billion a year at the federal,
state and local levels. The constant downward pressure on wages caused by a mass
influx of low-skilled workers has significantly eroded the economic security of
working Americans. Finally, the relentless annual increase in our population, largely
driven by immigration, degrades the environment, including ecosystem services,
which provide clean air, clean water, pollination, disease prevention, and much else,
and results in ever-increasing sprawl and traffic.
With respect to the impact of immigration on the environment, MCIR recently
successfully filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, State
Department and Department of Justice, saying that the government failed to achieve
mandatory compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which
requires an environmental impact analysis on Biden administration policies prior to
implementation.
As a nonpartisan group, MCIR does not endorse candidates. MCIR realizes that most
voters base their decisions at the polls on a range of considerations, rather than simply
a given legislator’s stance on immigration. Nevertheless, to the degree that voters
want to weigh the acts of legislators with respect to illegal immigration when making
an informed choice, this information is now available in a user-friendly format on the
MCIR website. https://www.masscir.com/
MCIR plans to release comparable ratings for challengers in the next few weeks.
MCIR believes that come November the voters of the Commonwealth should give
these legislators the rebuke that they have amply earned by repealing the driver’s
license law. Moreover, we hope that the voters communicate their displeasure with the
way that legislators have been neglecting their interests.
For information regarding this press release contact
John Thompson
(617) 939-9048
thompsonmcir@yahoo.com
Steve Kropper
(617) 306-9312
steve@kropper.com
The MCIR website address is: https://www.masscir.com/
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