Dear friends,
Everywhere I turn, I see references to the movie, “The Odyssey.” I’ve always found the Odyssey to be a compelling story. Odysseus, King of Ithaca, fought for 10 years in the Trojan war. His journey home took just as long. He faced sirens and other mythological creatures but ultimately made it home, with the guidance of the goddess Athena and the prophet Tiresias. His journey, the progression from losing to finding one’s way home, is one of the deepest human experiences.
Our country, like Odysseus, has lost its way. I see MIC’s work and the work of our partners as embodying Penelope, Odysseus’ wife. In the midst of the chaos of Odysseus’s 20 year absence, Penelope kept Ithaca together. She was true north. Our partners are serving as true north for immigrant communities, amidst turmoil and uncertainty. Our partner, the Brazilian Worker Center, chairs the Protecting Massachusetts Communities (PMC) Coalition, which successfully advocated for the passage of the PROTECT Act, establishing the strongest protections against ICE in the nation. View PROTECT Act resources here.
As Athena and Tiresius guided and protected Odysseus, we hope our new immigration lawyer and new legal program will keep members of our Berkshire immigrant community safe and on a path to stability. Massachusetts Volunteer Partnership-Legal (MVP-Legal) Berkshires was conceived by MIC and BASIC, and engages local retired attorneys and members of the private bar to provide pro bono immigration legal support, supervised by MIC Immigration Attorneys.
Like Odysseus, we face significant challenges ahead, most recently given the termination of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation. The only hope, to protect Haitian TPS, now is a bill before the Senate, S. 4814. We already know Massachusetts Senators are behind this. IFSI has been a major leader in the advocacy effort for S. 4814. On July 23rd, MIC joined our partner, Immigrant Family Services Institute (IFSI) to rally with Haitian TPS holders. Community leaders stood in solidarity with the Haitian community in and beyond Massachusetts. We ask that you encourage friends and family in other states to call their Senators, to support bill S. 4814. Phone and email scripts and other advocacy resources, provided by Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune’s office, can be found at this link.
The journey home starts with you. Your actions don’t have to be perfect, Odysseus’ certainly weren’t, but they need to be persistent. I ask you to be the true north for our immigrant families.
