As a part of the “Welcoming Community Ordinance,” Cambridge recently passed a law that encourages police officers to give summons instead of arrests to those caught driving without a license. This is an important step that not only solidifies the city’s reputation as a sanctuary city, but also strengthens the national resistance against President Donald Trump administration’s immigration policy.
Human beings should have the right to live in a country without the fear of being deported. Without something fear-inducing or necessary, most people would lack the incentive to leave their home countries. Once in a new place, they often have to relearn how to simply get by on top of navigating xenophobia and the institutions it has afflicted.
Cambridge has recognized this, and by putting this law into place, the city is very publicly declaring that it will take no part in perpetuating hostility towards immigrants. The pathway to citizenship has become increasingly difficult, especially in recent years. If we’re going to so tightly constrain people’s ability to participate equally in our society, making their material existence difficult is pure cruelty.
Driving is a necessity, and even more so in areas with a lot of illegal immigrants due to an egregious lack of public transportation. Those who have not been recognized by the state still need to go to work, run errands and address emergencies. If you’re not going to give these people driver’s licenses, it’s illogical to arrest them on the premise of doing something necessary without it.
The summons strategy is definitely more effective in that regard. In theory, a summons should give illegal immigrants more time to discover legal options that will not significantly endanger them. Furthermore, its less aggressive nature should make people less fearful of law enforcement. But again, that is all in theory.
In practice, to these people, a summons is equally as frightening as an arrest — especially since it is unclear what it entails. Even if they can avoid getting their fingerprint taken, it matters little for their safety if the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency can still access those records.
Certainly, this is a step in the right direction because it is an additional, concrete protection for them, but it is unclear how much progress we can really make for undocumented immigrants because of how restrictive the legal system is and how slowly it changes.
Although, shielding illegal immigrants from the Trump administration, on whatever level we are capable of, is a net positive for this country. We are setting a precedent for future presidents that we will not tolerate abuse of human beings on the borders and within the country.
The U.S. has had a long history of being a gate-keeping country. Cambridge is a part of the initiative to overhaul that, and Boston should be too.
