Our NEXT MEETING will beheld on December 9th at the Congregational Church, 1180 Great Plain Avenue, starting at 7:15pm. There is free parking behind the Church.

IN THE COMMUNITY:

>>. The Needham DIVERSITY SUMMIT will be held on Saturday, November 16, from 8:30am – 2;30PM at the Pollard Middle School, 200 Harris Ave. The full program can be
found at: http://www.needhamdiversity.org/2019-diversity-summit.html

>>.SINGING IN SOLIDARITY
WIth Our Immigration Neighbors, Sunday, November 17, 4:00 – 6 pm
At the Great Framingham Community Church, 44 Franklin St., Framingham
This is a free event and one can RSVP here: http://bit.ly/2019SinginSolidarity
Proceeds go to the Neighbors Fund of the Framingham Soldarity Network to support immigrants who need legal or bail assistance,
and families who are in crisis. To contribute now go to: http://fnd.us/misnneighborfund?ref=sh_3800Wc
Sponsored by the Metrowest Immigrant Solidarity Network and the Greater Framingham Community Church.

>>. The SAFE COMMUNITIES BILL will have its hearing before the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security on Monday, Dec. 2, starting at 10 am, in the Gardner Auditorium of the State House.We’re kicking off the day with a press conference at 9 am, then hope to keep Gardner full all day – which means we’ll need advocates to come in shifts, because we expect multiple hours of testimony (mostly pro-SCA, but also from opponents). The goal is to show overwhelming support, and to ensure a strong presence of immigrants and children of immigrants whose lives would be directly affected by the SCA.
Here is what you can do:
• RSVP to come to the State House on Dec. 2! For the rally, for a morning, midday or afternoon shift, to volunteer… you decide what you can do! The key is to be there. Testifying is optional; most people mobilizing that day won’t be testifying, just showing their support.
• Share our Facebook event for Dec. 2: We want this to be on everyone’s radar screen.
• Help us raise funds for buses and T-shirts! We want strong representation from across Massachusetts, and that means we’re going to need vans and buses to bring large groups. If we raise enough funds, we also want to get bright blue T-shirts. Contributions of any size are appreciated; our goal is to raise $2,500–$3,000 total.
• Promote the SCA on social media! We have a collection of shareable graphics for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as sample posts. Please use the hashtag #SafeCommunitiesAct and link to our Phone2Action campaign: http://bit.ly/MA-SCA.
• Make it personal! Print this SCA campaign sign and have your picture taken with it – sign held against your chest, close to your chin. Then post it on Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram with a short message about why you support the Safe Communities Act. Tag it #SafeCommunitiesAct. Or… email us the photo with your message, and we’ll post it for you! Video messages also welcome. Keep spreading the word! Please advocate for the Safe Communities Act at any events where you have an opportunity, and keep distributing postcards and encouraging people to join!

On behalf of the SCA Steering Committee,
Amy Grunder
Director of State Policy and Legislative AffairsMIRA Coalition

>>. MEDICARE 4 ALL: The Needham Channel just posted their video of the Medicare for All presentation at the Center at the Heights on October 24. Here is the link:
https://www.needhamchannel.org/2019/11/can-healthcare-in-massachusetts-be-fixed/
The Task Force was one of the cosponsors of the event. It was very well done and well attended. Please be sure let your friends and neighbors know about it.

ARTICLES OF INTEREST:

>>. 2019.11.05. Vox: THE DEMISE OF THE ASYLUM SYSTEM UNDER TRUMP
Vox outlines seven ways the Trump administration has made it all but impossible to seek asylum in the United States. From the third country asylum rule to metering at the border to the
Migrant Protection Protocols to lack of a fair day in court, Voxnotes that in the almost three years since President Trump took office, the U.S. asylum system has become nearly unrecognizable.
It is well worth reading. GO TO: https://www.vox.com/2019/11/5/20947938/asylum-system-trump-demise-mexico-el-salvador-honduras-guatemala-immigration-court-border-ice-cbp

>>. 2019.11.13.CNN has reported that a bushel of leaked 2015 emails reveal STEPHEN MILLER, the controversial senior White House policy adviser, promoted stories from white nationalist and fringe media organizations to staffers of the far-right website BREITBART. Miller is known for his hard-line immigration stance, and emails show him trying to connect news stories about hurricanes to the possibility of increased immigration. Others show him trying to link race and crime. Some emails link to sites and articles that express anti-Muslim speech. Other messages reference VDARE, a prominent white nationalist website, or InfoWars, a site that often peddles conspiracy theories. The messages were published by the SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, and the organization says it’ll release more over time. SEE: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/politics/stephen-miller-leaked-emails/index.html?utm_source=CNN+Five+Things&utm_campaign=6b55319f55-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_11_13_02_11&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6da287d761-6b55319f55-94610557

>>. 2019.11.12.Who is CHAD WOLF, and why is there opposition by Democrats to his eventual appointment as Acting Secretary of DHS?
Politico reports that the very issue that swept President Trump into office in 2016 could help cost him his reelection in 2020. The president’s attempts to match lofty campaign promises are in disarray, with the wall largely unbuilt, so-called sanctuary cities still receiving federal money, and birthright citizenship intact. Meanwhile, ongoing divisions in the administration recently spilled into public when the president tapped CHAD WOLF to temporarily head DHS. CNN has some of the answers at https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/politics/chad-wolf-clears-senate-vote/index.html

>>. 2019.11.14. SEARCHES of electronic devises by CBP and ICE RESTRICTED. Reuters reports that on Nov 12, 2019, a judge in the Federal District Court for Massachusetts ruled that U.S. border agents need “reasonable suspicion” but not a warrant to search travelers’ and laptops at airports and other U.S. ports of entry. The ruling sets a higher standard than the one CBP and ICE agents must apply to conduct routine searches of electronic devices under current policies and which the court held was unconstitutional. The number of electronic device searches at the border has ballooned during the Trump administration, rising from about 8,500 in FY2015 to more than 30,000 in FY2018. For the full story, go to: https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/11/12/technology/12reuters-usa-immigration-privacy.html?

PROPOSED NEW REGULATIONS:

>>. Now the Administration intends to prevent asylum seekers from obtaining employment authorization during the several years it may take during pending grant of asylum. Please see attached. This may be something we want to send our thoughts to CIS via our post card campaign. Amazing how the title of the proposal s so far from the real aim.

LITIGATON:

>>. Several months ago I mentioned suits filed against the Attorney General to prohibit his decision to withhold funds from a program enacted by Congress which authorized grants related to help fund local police programs, if given communities refused to honor Detainers. Several federal district courts issued preliminary injunctions. Two weeks ago the Federal Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (City of Los Angeles v. Barr, et al., 10/31/19) upheld the initial decision of the lower court and joined several other Circuits, holding that the Attorney General had no statutory authority to do so because the statute did not allow him to expand his authority beyond that which Congress had authorized.

A FAVOR: I would find it very helpful if you have an item you wish to have placed on the Agenda for the 12/9 meeting you send me an email no later than Dec 5th. Our meetings have so many items of concern that I want to try to leave sufficient time for proper consideration.

Hope you enjoy the weekend,
Gerry Rovner, Chair