Northampton, Easthampton push for ICE resistance resolutions

Easthampton and Northampton are once again reiterating their support for limiting local municipalities cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, with each moving forward with resolutions that back pieces of state legislation that would do just that.

While the Northampton City Council stopped short of passing such a resolution at its meeting last Thursday, councilors showed unanimous support. The resolution states that the city does not stand with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents under the Trump administration.

“I don’t want to give the impression that we have control over things that we frankly don’t,” City Council President Rachel Maiore said. “If you recall, [ICE] came to be after the Sept. 11 attacks, and it’s frankly always been problematic. Immigration is not terrorism and enforcement is not the only way to address issues.”

“Under this (federal) administration, now it’s being weaponized — family separation, neglect, abuse, the killings — their power has grown much faster than methods of accountability,” Maiore added.

Northampton’s resolution urges state legislators to pass the PROTECT Act (H.D. 5608) and the Safe Communities Act (S.1681 and H2.580), which intend to limit municipalities’ required cooperation with ICE and safeguard residents’ constitutional rights. It also takes a stance against law enforcement members patrolling public areas while concealing their faces and badge numbers.

Easthampton City Council passed a similar resolution supporting the PROTECT Act nearly two weeks ago, though it does not include the Safe Communities Act.

“There has been increasing concern about the impact of federal immigration enforcement in our community, and the city has taken some important steps to protect our immigrant community members,” Easthampton’s resolution states in its first sentence.

According to Easthampton’s resolution, the PROTECT Act was filed by the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, which Easthampton state Rep. Homar Gómez sits on.

It was put forward by Council President Koni Denham, Councilors Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid and Amanda Newton, and also received messages of support from Councilors Felicia Jadczak, Nathan Markee and James “JP” Kwiecinski.

“The impetus for this was because we were contacted — me and Councilor Denham — by a couple members of the community that were particularly concerned about these issues,” Jamrog-McQuaid said. “I think that we’re all very concerned about protecting our immigrant neighbors.”

The resolution references Easthampton’s 2019 Welcoming Community Trust Ordinance, which mandates local law enforcement and city officials to not coordinate with federal immigration enforcement. But the resolution has the ambition that the act could take this a step further.

“The next steps are at the state legislative level to expand protections and ensure accountability for these unlawful actions,” it states.

If passed, the PROTECT Act would ban federal immigration officers from making civil arrests in state courthouses. The resolution says that in 2025, there were more than 600 arrests at courthouses across Massachusetts.

It would also require that every person detained by federal authorities be given information on how to hire a lawyer in their native language, mandate that their attorneys get notified if their client is transferred to another facility and several other mandates.

Jadczak said she supports the resolution and appreciates that it names certain deaths that happened this year, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in January.

However, she said she also wants to recognize that many of these deaths become “high-profile” because the individuals are white, also wanting to recognize “Keith Porter, Geraldo Lunas Campos and Victor Manuel Diaz.”

“I think it’s important to raise up their names as well because a lot of times Black and brown deaths especially in these kind of instances, especially with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents, get overlooked unfortunately,” Jadczak said.

As for Northampton’s resolution, councilors and members of the public discussed how the resolution can be amended to strengthen its legal teeth.

Maiore, who co-sponsored the resolution alongside Vice President Deborah Klemer, Ward 3 Councilor Laurie Loisel and Ward 1 Councilor Gwenevra Nabad, went on to explain that the city, while unable to control the federal government, “cannot stay quiet.”

She added that the city will do “everything in its power” to protect the community’s most vulnerable members.

Loisel explained that the resolution, though purely “symbolic,” still represents taking what she believes is a necessary stance against ICE enforcement and the way it’s currently operating. She noted that the city has limited power, if any, over the federal and state governments, and that not much more can be done on the local level.

“[Resolutions] help bring a culture change. Even though they are largely symbolic, they express values that are really important to express,” Loisel said. “I will work with the other co-sponsors to consider whether we want to amend it at all based on the comments we heard, but I don’t want to make promises we can’t keep … we don’t have a lot of authority over the attorney general or the district attorney and stuff. We kind of took it as far as we could in terms of expressing our preference.”

The council deliberations followed a public comment period when numerous residents voiced support for the resolution, with some, such as Tusi Gastonguay, requesting that the city amend the resolution to make it more legally enforceable.

“The resolution, as it stands, has no enforcement backing. I would very much like it for you to revise it to call directly on the Massachusetts attorney general and the local district attorney to enforce state criminal laws against federal agents when they commit crimes in Massachusetts,” she said. “Most of the folks in this room and on Zoom are not in hiding from ICE as some of our neighbors are. Let’s pass a resolution that we would like to see if we were in the shoes of those in fear right now. Let’s put some teeth into it.”