Editorial, Opinion

EDITORIAL: Boston celebrating its immigrants is cause for celebration

In January, President Donald Trump was inaugurated into office, and things have been looking down for immigrants ever since. Beyond the multitude of travel bans that the White House has been trying to push through, there has also been an undeniable anti-immigrant spirit coming from Washington, and permeating through to the rest of the country.

But many places in the United States, mostly big cities, have been fighting tooth and nail to stop that sentiment from becoming a norm. Thankfully, Boston is one of them.

An article in Saturday’s Boston Globe painted the picture of cultural centers, murals and exhibitions that are popping up left and right to celebrate our city’s immigrants. An article in Sunday’s Boston Herald reported on programs sponsored by Boston Public Schools to help students who fled from Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria — 34 of whom have enrolled in the district already this month — with housing, school supplies and emotional support to get help them transition to their new lives.

As if it weren’t traumatizing enough to have your home ravished by a hurricane and your entire life uprooted, these Puerto Rican students — all immigrants for that matter — have to face coming to a country whose president makes it glaringly obvious he does not want them here.

But the City of Boston has responded to each new assault by the Trump administration with all of the versatility and vibrancy you’d hope for in a city so progressive under a government so oppressive.

Our leaders at every level have dedicated themselves to making sure immigrants have a home here, with each atrocity of the federal government being met with an almost immediate response.

On the state level, Attorney General Maura Healey has no hesitation in suing Trump if and when he does something horrible. On the city level, Mayor Martin Walsh has continued to step up in times of trouble — from declaring Boston as a sanctuary city to working closely with the Department of Immigrant Advancement — his actions have been characteristic of his administration. Even at Boston University, President Robert Brown has voiced his support for immigrants on campus, as well as refusing to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

When Trump acts out, people in Boston step up — we’ve seen it time and time again.

And even beyond what’s being done in our government and our schools, Bostonians have been showing their support for the immigrant communities here. Seemingly small acts like murals and hashtags in celebration of immigrants can actually make a big difference when it comes to making Boston feel like home for people, regardless of where they’re from.

What Boston is doing is giving immigrants some visual representation, and creating a community where even if immigrants aren’t surrounded by their own language and culture, they can at least look around and see that they are welcome here.

Boston has a history of racism and prejudice, as do many cities in the United States. But we are more than that. This kind of love and support speaks so much louder than all the hate.

On the other end of the spectrum, we shouldn’t be overpraising Boston either. Welcoming immigrants is by no means a revolutionary concept. Neither is standing up to bullies. Other cities have been making these kinds of statements and sponsoring these kinds of programs for much longer than we have — but it still takes some dedication to change the landscape for immigrants in your city, and Boston is definitely on the right track.

Next, we need to dig even deeper. Murals are great, but you know what’s better? Affordable housing. If the City follows through on all of the great work they’ve started with more concrete measures, they could make a real difference for immigrants in Boston.

Wronging immigrants has been part and parcel of the Trump administration, and that’s out of our control, but the City is finally showing that what happens to the immigrants who live here is not. Boston is finally stepping up for these people — and quite frankly — it’s about time.

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