By Bob Hertz
I recently sent an e-mail to the Acton Board of Selectpersons requesting they rethink the Sanctuary Town status for Acton, expressed, as I understand it, in the Acton BOS Immigration Policy, a cleverly structured legalistic product. This policy (not updated to the best of my knowledge) was in keeping with a trend sweeping liberal municipalities in 2017 wherein politicians used various arguments to suggest local law enforcement need not comply with Federal detainer requests. In 2021 thru 2024, a misguided Biden administration threw open the gates of our country to all who wanted to come – good and bad – and then made little or no attempt to weed out the bad, or consider the pressures of absorbing millions of people and unknown tons of Fentanyl within a short period. Biden requested Harris handle the border situation – and we all know how that worked out. Worse still, Biden spread illegal immigrants (good and, all too often, unvetted bad) throughout the country, often in the dark of night. The uncaring foolishness of the Biden era immigration policy exposes residents of Acton to some level of danger. If Acton’s immigration policy made sense before, it certainly does not at this time given the mess the country is in – thanks to Biden and/or cohorts.
What are the dangers? First, vicious immigrants, knowing which municipalities sympathize, seize opportunity to set up shop in these communities. Second, the policy strongly signals our police should think twice before taking certain actions which they may deem necessary. Finally, we have a new administration which views current immigrant policy as untenable. They will, I am sure, google states and municipalities (near and wide) using various terms, attempting to ferret out what they consider Sanctuary language. They may well reduce Federal funding to those considered obstructionists, posing two possible problems for Acton – reduction of Federal funding to Massachusetts (which will trickle down to community budgets) and decrease of direct Acton funding because of our policy. Sanctuary language and State vs. Federal government rights will be tested in the courts – but by the time they are settled, Acton may be forced to significantly restructure budgets. Most citizens of the U.S. currently side with getting rid of bad illegal actors, whatever it takes.
All illegal immigrants have broken the laws of the United States. Some “experts” such as ACLU and Factcheck (whose past declarations certainly are suspect) suggest unlawful entry does not make the immigrants criminals, and others, including the Trump administration, suggesting they are criminals. The courts will decide at some point. So far, Federal authorities have only looked for dangerous criminals. Some fools (primarily blue state and municipal liberals) are attempting to impede the Federal authority’s ability to apprehend dangerous criminals and, as a result, causing the sweeping-up of other non-targeted illegal immigrants. We find that some misguided liberal nuts (reportedly Soros-backed radio stations and others) are now broadcasting locations of ICE and other law enforcement groups (ICE) and/or are warning illegals to evade apprehension. ICE is finally working to get violent criminals off the streets – something Biden and accomplices did nothing about. Look at what Biden has delivered us – cartels, spies, violent criminals, Fentanyl among other sins. Acton and Massachusetts should be working with ICE – not impeding its efforts. I hope at least Acton is doing so.
Being a naturalized citizen, I appreciate living in the U.S. – raising a family and working here. I understand why people want to come. Unfortunately, the criminal illegal aliens have taken slots that others have waited years to fill. If Biden had let a few individuals in, we would not be where we are. Because Biden collaborators let the world in (millions) along with as much Fentanyl as the gangs wanted to move, Trump has been forced to take actions which should have taken place over the past four years to remove bad actors.
I cannot agree with Eldridge that non-citizens (Illegal or legal) should vote in Acton or anywhere else. Voting should be a benefit of citizenship. Any immigrant wanting citizenship can stand in line like many others have done. If not interested, they should not be able to vote.
Biden (or those running the country in place of a neuro-degenerating Biden) should not have allowed wide-open borders to bring the current havoc to our country. Acton should re-evaluate their 2017 immigration policy which, because of the Biden administration abuses is, I am sure, now outdated and not in the best interest of Acton citizens.
good evening Jeremy:
I think you understand what I am saying – that I have no issue with any group of reasonably-vetted people coming to the United States but do have an issue with any migrant entering the country without proper vetting, including many that were undetected – the purpose of their entrance and background unknown. I am not sure what to make of your red herring – perhaps simple obfuscation.
As a kid, I occasionally watched clips of the Keystone Kops – slapstick frolics of humorously incompetent policemen. The Biden era was marked with some of the same qualities as the Keystone Kops, but without the humor. Obama-stint leftovers (Sullivan, Mayorkas, Blinken) played leading roles while Biden and Harris were on the sidelines and no chief was in sight. This group, and their immigration policy (or lack thereof) has done significant harm to the U.S.
Acton is a tapestry of many nationalities. I hope they, and all immigrants, are in the U.S. for wholesome reasons. Because of the Biden blunders, we know such is not the case. We know many unsavory aliens, including gangs and avengers, have entered the country unimpeded and/or unvetted, and do not have our best interests at heart. That is my point – vetting and control of immigration is required. I use China as an example of a competitor, and at times an adversary, who uses spies and continually prods our computers and systems for information and weakness. China is one of many. My comment is not meant to slight individuals because of their ethnicity. To redirect the conversation is, at the least, misleading.
“Biden and accomplices did nothing,” you say? https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-12-20/biden-administration-deported-highest-number-of-immigrants-in-a-decade.html
And mighty rich for the current administration to revoke TPS yesterday (a feature of the Immigration Act of 1990 created by Congress waaaayy back in 1990) that brought many immigrants from specifically designated countries that are confronting an ongoing armed conflict or environmental disaster who are now working, paying taxes, opening businesses, and sending their children to schools across the country, reclassifying their status from “entered the country legally” to priority for deportation.
Good morning Alissa. You make quite a sweeping statement.
I say that Biden did little or nothing – a figurehead suffering from dementia. I say one of his accomplices, Harris, his border czar, also did little or nothing. I do not say, however, his accomplices other than Harris did nothing. These folks running the country (primarily the Obama remnants and entrenched liberals) unfortunately did much. They opened the borders: to all who wanted to come from countries around the world (including many military-age Chinese), to increased importation of Fentanyl, and to some of the worst crime syndicates of the world. They purposely did little to catch or vet incoming illegals. They dispersed illegals throughout the country. The rapes, murders and mayhem being caused by illegals are on their hands. They were responsible for redirecting funds to cover the expenses of their bad deeds – as one example, PolitiFact, a left leaning outfit, states “FEMA didn’t spend all its money on immigrants”.
Your primary point seems to be that Biden and associates deported more immigrants than were deported in decades, including under Trump. I suggest they sanctioned entrance of more illegals than was the case for decades – by large margins. Homeland Security Republicans, in an October 2024 report, suggest 2.9 million encounters during FY 2017 – 2020 (the Trump years) and 10.8 million encounters during FY2021 – 2024 (under Biden’s watch – an increase of roughly 272%. A reasonable assumption is the same relative increase in get-aways. Per the article you reference, the number of deportations for the final years of Trump and Biden were 267,260 and 271,484 respectively. The increase in deportations is under 2%. The comparison is ridiculous.
FactCheck, another left-leaning organization, in early 2024 stated “encounters on the southern border of those trying to enter the U.S. without authorization have gone up significantly under President Joe Biden”. As we know, the inflow during the Biden presidency increased year-by-year, culminating in an explosion in 2023/24. Major cities around the county struggle to find the funds necessary to handle the influx of immigrants. Small cities and towns throughout the country face additional burdens necessary to support immigrants sent to them (often in the darkness of night). Newsweek in a February 2024 article suggests 5,000 illegal aliens being released into the United States per day in December of 2023 and pegs the cost at $150.7 billion for just one year. The New York Post suggests the bill could be as high as $451 billion per year. The numbers are all over the place but lead to the same conclusions – many millions of illegals entering the country in the Biden years, and prohibitive costs to support them.
The constant reminder of what immigrants can bring to the U.S. is a little old at this point, as is the claim that immigrants need our protection. The simple fact is that Biden & Co. upended what was a reasonable level of immigration. The U.S. is now faced with a crisis, and the old rules unfortunately cannot apply. The calamity requires drastic measures to bring it under control. It is not our job to save everyone, and illegals do not belong here.
The Biden clan, Washington Democrats and much of the media suggested, almost to the end, all was well with Biden (energetic and sharp as a tack). The past four years have been replete with mistakes and mismanagement starting with the Afghanistan withdrawal which weakened our standing around the globe. No question additional spending was warranted due to Covid, but those running the country used the issue as well as climate concerns to spend like drunken sailors, often for something totally unrelated. Debt costs now exceed spending for defense. National debt per capita equals roughly $103K – good luck to our kids and grandkids. These results cannot continue. They have spent money on every woke issue imaginable. They have exported woke philosophies and funding to countries around the world (look at USAID) and have made huge investments at home. They unduly kept our schools and workshops closed – and still have government employees working at home. They polluted the military with pronouns, weakening what we once had and causing recruitment reductions. They contaminated our children with their woke foolishness, and did their best to split families and divide the country. They have spent fortunes on clean energy, climate control and the like without building-out the energy infrastructure needed for a rapidly increasing demand. They reduced our petroleum exports and capped drilling. They significantly increased household inflation. And the list goes on. One might conclude the Biden misadventure was meant to reap harm on the U.S. and reduce its standing worldwide. If so, the question is why. If not, we witnessed inept governance by the Biden bunch. I suggest the latter.
As an immigrant myself, I’m always fascinated by the way that one wave of immigrants likes to attack the next. It’s a phenomenon we see the world over. Trump, Vance, Musk all play the same game. In the UK, Braverman and Patel do the same thing. They want to pull up the drawbridge not they are inside the castle. I see you are doing it too.
You mention “They opened the borders: to all who wanted to come from countries around the world (including many military-age Chinese)”. A decent number of our fellow immigrants in town fall into the category of “military-age Chinese”. They are good hardworking people who are here to fill skills gaps in the American workforce. Without them our technology and biotech industries wouldn’t be as strong. We’d be struggling to find doctors.
Perhaps you intend to offend our neighbors, perhaps not. Either way, it seems like the same old story.