UPDATE, it’s WORKING- almost there! CALL TO ACTION: Help protect immigrants in MA – the vote is Tuesday May 22
Please take quick action and share with anyone you know around the state! You can call any time of day or any day of the week and leave a message, or send an email at any time.
UPDATE FROM SAFE COMMUNITIES COALITION: 15 Senators signed on – only five more needed! Message received Friday, May 18. Thank Julian Cyr, please! If you live in a district represented by a Senator you know will vote against this – EMAIL THEM ANYWAY. Let them know you want them to support this.
Please share with others around the state.
Our campaign is making an impact. We’re hearing about your calls from legislative staff, and as of this afternoon, we had 15 co-sponsors for Senator Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147 to protect immigrant families: Senators Barrett, Boncore, Brownsberger, Chang-Diaz, Creem, Crighton, Cyr, DiDomenico, Eldridge, Friedman, Hinds, Lewis, L’Italien, Jehlen and Welsh.
We need 5 more for a critical mass. So we need you to flood Senators with emails this weekend, and make a lot more calls on Monday and Tuesday. We particularly need to target Senators outside the Boston area, and keep up the pressure on Senate Ways & Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka.
If your Senator has already co-sponsored, please call/email to thank them and let them know they have your full support.
For those whose Senators are still on the fence, at the end of this email, we have provided a sample email script and two sample call scripts. You can find your Senator’s contact info here; Chairwoman Spilka is at 617-722-1640 and Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov. Or use MIRA’s Phone2Action tool, which has pre-written emails you can use (and can be used to call automatically next week).
Monday and Tuesday next week are particularly important, so please mobilize your networks to make as many calls as possible. Also, the ACLU urgently needs volunteers for their phone banks next week! Sign up here; they have shifts Tuesday, May 22, 6:30-9pm and Wednesday, May 23, 11am-2pm. Both are in the ACLU’s Boston office, and yes, there will be free pizza!
Note to Western Massachusetts residents: If you are a former constituent of Senator Stan Rosenberg, please call one or all of these two Senators who have committed to represent your district: Sen. Anne Gobi, 617-722-1540, Anne.Gobi@masenate.gov and Sen. Eric Lesser, 617-722-1291, Eric.Lesser@masenate.gov.
We have a lot at stake in the next week. So please keep mobilizing your networks! This is a numbers game, and we have to show overwhelming support.
– the SCA Steering Committee
SAMPLE SCRIPTS
For email:
As [for Spilka: a Massachusetts resident] [for own Senator: your constituent], I am writing to urge you to support Senator Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147 to the FY 2019 budget.
At a time of unprecedented attacks on immigrants from the federal government, we urgently need to defend Massachusetts values by standing up for immigrant families. We can’t stop the federal government from targeting law-abiding, hardworking immigrants for deportation, but we can ensure that we don’t participate in actions that tear families apart.
I urge you to support Senator Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147, which would create crucial protections for immigrant families. I also hope you will defeat Senator Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would needlessly entangle police in deportations and set us back from the Lunn v. Commonwealth decision.
For call to your Senator:
Hello, my name is __________ and I live in [city or town]. I am calling to urge Senator [name] to take a stand for immigrant families by co-sponsoring Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147. I also urge him/her to advocate with Senate leadership, and vote for the amendment when it comes to the floor.
I also ask him/her to OPPOSE Sen. Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would end the protections we won under the Lunn decision.
I expect Massachusetts to take the lead in protecting immigrant families in our state. Anything less in the Trump era is unacceptable. Thank you for taking my call!
For call to Chairwoman Spilka:
Hello, my name is __________ and I live in [city or town]. I am calling to urge Chairwoman Spilka to take a stand for immigrant families by supporting Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147 and OPPOSING Sen. Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would end the protections we won under the Lunn decision.
I expect Massachusetts to take the lead in protecting immigrant families in our state. Anything less in the Trump era is unacceptable. Thank you for taking my call!
———– original post ————
Our campaign is making an impact. We’re hearing about your calls from legislative staff, and as of this afternoon, we had 15 co-sponsors for Senator Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147 to protect immigrant families: Senators Barrett, Boncore, Brownsberger, Chang-Diaz, Creem, Crighton, Cyr, DiDomenico, Eldridge, Friedman, Hinds, Lewis, L’Italien, Jehlen and Welsh.
We need 5 more for a critical mass. So we need you to flood Senators with emails this weekend, and make a lot more calls on Monday and Tuesday. We particularly need to target Senators outside the Boston area, and keep up the pressure on Senate Ways & Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka.
If your Senator has already co-sponsored, please call/email to thank them and let them know they have your full support.
For those whose Senators are still on the fence, at the end of this email, we have provided a sample email script and two sample call scripts. You can find your Senator’s contact info here; Chairwoman Spilka is at 617-722-1640 and Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov. Or use MIRA’s Phone2Action tool, which has pre-written emails you can use (and can be used to call automatically next week).
Monday and Tuesday next week are particularly important, so please mobilize your networks to make as many calls as possible. Also, the ACLU urgently needs volunteers for their phone banks next week! Sign up here; they have shifts Tuesday, May 22, 6:30-9pm and Wednesday, May 23, 11am-2pm. Both are in the ACLU’s Boston office, and yes, there will be free pizza!
Note to Western Massachusetts residents: If you are a former constituent of Senator Stan Rosenberg, please call one or all of these two Senators who have committed to represent your district: Sen. Anne Gobi, 617-722-1540, Anne.Gobi@masenate.gov and Sen. Eric Lesser, 617-722-1291, Eric.Lesser@masenate.gov.
We have a lot at stake in the next week. So please keep mobilizing your networks! This is a numbers game, and we have to show overwhelming support.
– the SCA Steering Committee
SAMPLE SCRIPTS
For email:
As [for Spilka: a Massachusetts resident] [for own Senator: your constituent], I am writing to urge you to support Senator Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147 to the FY 2019 budget.
At a time of unprecedented attacks on immigrants from the federal government, we urgently need to defend Massachusetts values by standing up for immigrant families. We can’t stop the federal government from targeting law-abiding, hardworking immigrants for deportation, but we can ensure that we don’t participate in actions that tear families apart.
I urge you to support Senator Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147, which would create crucial protections for immigrant families. I also hope you will defeat Senator Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would needlessly entangle police in deportations and set us back from the Lunn v. Commonwealth decision.
For call to your Senator:
Hello, my name is __________ and I live in [city or town]. I am calling to urge Senator [name] to take a stand for immigrant families by co-sponsoring Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147. I also urge him/her to advocate with Senate leadership, and vote for the amendment when it comes to the floor.
I also ask him/her to OPPOSE Sen. Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would end the protections we won under the Lunn decision.
I expect Massachusetts to take the lead in protecting immigrant families in our state. Anything less in the Trump era is unacceptable. Thank you for taking my call!
For call to Chairwoman Spilka:
Hello, my name is __________ and I live in [city or town]. I am calling to urge Chairwoman Spilka to take a stand for immigrant families by supporting Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147 and OPPOSING Sen. Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would end the protections we won under the Lunn decision.
I expect Massachusetts to take the lead in protecting immigrant families in our state. Anything less in the Trump era is unacceptable. Thank you for taking my call!
We are members of the Massachusetts Safe Communities Coalition, one of the efforts supported by the ACLU of MA.
In an action that once again proved that MA is not truly “blue,” the Safe Communities Act did not pass this session. However, there are opportunities to put some of these protections into place via the budget. The MA Senate votes on these items Tuesday May, 22. Download printable information flyer here.
Please send a quick message using the information described by the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) below. Find Cape and Islands Senators’ email information here, and all others here. Senator Karen Spilka, Chair of the Joint Ways and Means Committee, email contact: Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov.
Or, make a call using the tools described in their message below:
We’ve struck a nerve. The Senate budget has become a ‘battleground’ over immigration, the Herald proclaimed. This morning, anti-immigrant groups held a press conference to spread falsehoods and stoke fear.
They’re nervous, and they should be. Because in the Senate, we have a real chance to get new protections for immigrants included in the FY 2019 budget. But it’s a numbers game – who can mobilize the most supporters?
Next Tuesday, the state Senate will take up its version of the FY 2019 budget. We believe that Sen. Jamie Eldridge’s amendment #1147, which would add 4 key protections, has a good chance of succeeding, but we need to get as many Senators as possible to co-sponsor – and be ready to fight for it.
So we need you to call your Senator and Senate Ways & Means Chairwoman Karen Spilka TODAY. Then forward this message to everyone in your networks. And for the greatest impact, sign up to phone bank with the ACLU today and/or next week.
Find your Senator number here; Chairwoman Spilka is at 617-722-1640. Or use MIRA’s Phone2Action tool, which automatically connects you.
Note to Western Massachusetts residents: If you are a former constituent of Senator Stan Rosenberg, please call one or all of these three Senators instead, who have committed to represent your district: Sen. Anne Gobi, 617-722-1540; Sen. Adam Hinds, 617-722-1625; and Sen. Eric Lesser, 617-722-1291.
The ask is simple: Show your support for immigrant families in our Commonwealth by co-sponsoring Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147. We also want them to commit to OPPOSE Senator Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would allow police to detain people for federal immigration authorities.
With Chairwoman Spilka, emphasize that we need her leadership to protect immigrant families in our Commonwealth.
Below are call scripts that you can use. If you want more details on Senator Eldridge’s amendment and why it’s so crucial, see our handout. But remember, when you call, keep it short! And if you get voicemail, make sure to leave your name, address and phone number!
We have a lot at stake in the next week. So please get on the phone, and get everyone you know to call as well!
– the SCA Steering Committee
SAMPLE CALL {or email} SCRIPTS
For your Senator:
Hello, my name is __________ and I live in [city or town]. I am calling to urge Senator [name] to take a stand for immigrant families by co-sponsoring Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147. I also urge him/her to advocate with Senate leadership, and vote for the amendment when it comes to the floor.
I also ask him/her to OPPOSE Sen. Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would end the protections we won under the Lunn decision.
I expect Massachusetts to take the lead in protecting immigrant families in our state. Anything less in the Trump era is unacceptable. Thank you for taking my call!
For call to Chairwoman Spilka:
Hello, my name is __________ and I live in [city or town]. I am calling to urge Chairwoman Spilka to take a stand for immigrant families by supporting Senator Eldridge’s amendment #1147 and OPPOSING Sen. Fattman’s amendment #1136, which would end the protections we won under the Lunn decision.
I expect Massachusetts to take the lead in protecting immigrant families in our state. Anything less in the Trump era is unacceptable. Thank you for taking my call!
(If you see errors or omissions please contact CapeCodWomenforChange@gmail.com)
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