Blue Mass Group

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Deval Patrick Has Sold Out Migrants

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What makes this an even harder pill to swallow is that Patrick is turning his back on a promise he made during his campaign. 

We will have in-state tuition for undocumented aliens when I am governor.

Deval Patrick – WBZTV (4 April 2006)

If these promises hadn’t been made by Patrick, I’m sure immigrant communities and their allies would have thought twice about supporting him.  They certainly wouldn’t have been out campaigning for him.

I defended Patrick in January when the press pounced on an off-hand comment Patrick made about pursuing administrative options for migrant in-state tuition, but no longer.  Patrick doesn’t want to take the heat that comes along with standing up for justice.  It looks as if all his  “inspirational themes of inclusiveness and hope” were for naught.  Migrant youth aren’t high enough up on his priority list.

I would have thought twice about writing this post if I hadn’t seen another shift towards the anti-migrant in Patrick’s positioning, announced just yesterday. 

The Patrick administration is stepping up its efforts to shine some light on the state’s “underground economy.”

The administration on Tuesday unveiled a new hotline for anonymous

tipsters to report examples of employers paying workers under the

table, avoiding mandatory insurance payments or misclassifying

employees as independent contractors.

Jon Chesto – MetroWest Daily News (21 May 2008)

Sure, the article says the “task force has not focused on looking for immigrants who are in the country illegally”, but that doesn’t mean that an anonymous hotline will not be abused by those that have a bone to pick with migrants, racial minorities, or their employers. 

It’s a lesson we learn all too often in politics.  Politicians don’t keep their promises.  Call me stupid for thinking that someone with campaign rhetoric as lofty as Patrick’s would be different.  Fool me once Patrick.  Shame on you.  Fool me twice.  Shame on me.

Send in letters to the Boston Globe telling Deval Patrick you’re disappointed with how he sold out migrant youth.  Give his office a call (617-725-4005), too, if you have the time.

UPDATE (by David): Doug Rubin, Governor Patrick’s chief of staff, responds in the comments:

The Governor’s position has not changed – he supports the issue and continues to believe this is an issue of fundamental fairness and that young people that graduate from Massachusetts public schools should be eligible for the same tuition rates as their peers regardless of their immigration status.

Based on a request from the Legislature and advocates, we conducted a legal review to see if these changes could be made by regulation instead of through legislation. However, after an exhaustive review of the issue by our legal team, they believe that there are significant legal impediments to implementing this change administratively. This is a change that will need to be enacted through legislation, legislation that the Governor does support.

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  2. Thanks for the information on this.

    <

    p>I am disappointed on the in-state tuition as well. Consider, though, that Patrick’s approval numbers are rather low right now and, to be honest, the public isn’t with us on in-state tuition yet. Let’s keep up the work educating the public and working to elect legislators that are in favor and hope that his approval numbers rebound so he can afford to invest political capital in the issue.

    <

    p>As for the second issue, I have no problem with the Governor enforcing state labor laws to ensure that workers are treated fairly. Let’s make sure all workers, regardless of their citizenship status, are not exploited.

    • Could be made by progressives that this is not feasible right now, and that migrants are going to have to suffer for other reforms.  It’s important that Gov. Patrick make that argument, though, and not cower and run away from one of his campaign promises.

      <

      p>With the second issue.  Gov. Patrick is going to have to work very closely with immigrant communities to make sure his task force does not cause further harm to them.  According to the article above it says only now will they be reaching out to migrant communities.  

      <

      p>They should have been involved much earlier in the process.

      <

      p>I agree though, we have to make sure all workers, regardless of status, are not exploited.  I’m just afraid that won’t be the case with this new hotline.  Contrary to what nativist say, that is the real way to raise wages for U.S. workers.

    • is, how many workers is this new hotline going to actually protect? Something tells me it is going to be a “report the Hispanic construction worker” hotline. I don’t even recall Romney creating such a measure. Starting a witch hunt against the (estimated) 250,000 undocumented individuals living here hardly seems like productive or humane use of our resources.

      <

      p>When is Governor Patrick going to demonstrate actual leadership? If he’s looking to increase his approval ratings, I would think that is a good place to start.

      • Of course Romney wouldn’t take any measures to protect workers. Romney is a big business candidate — it wouldn’t make any sense for him to enact measures to ensure workers’ rights are upheld.

        <

        p>What is this “something” that makes you think it will be a “report the Hispanic constructor worker” hotline? The specific examples given in the article are “paying workers under the table, avoiding mandatory insurance payments or misclassifying employees as independent contractors.” I think workers would use it to blow the whistle on their employers, not put each other lives in jeopardy.

        • On the hotline.  Immigrant Advocates are worried about this being a “report the Hispanic construction worker” hotline.

    • Think I’ll sit down tonight and think about which laws I intend on abiding and those I choose to ignore—since we are drifting into anarchy—what the hell—-just jump on the bandwagon.

  3. Small nitpicky semantic thing, but we’re not talking about migrants, we’re talking about immigrants.  

    <

    p>Migrants move frequently from place to place, usually in the context of seeking work, e.g., migrant farm workers.  They are transient, hence the term.

    <

    p>These kids, however, are not migrants; they are immigrants.  They have longstanding roots, often entire lifetimes, in the Commonwealth, hence we believe they have earned the right to pay in-state tuition.

    <

    p>You might consider fixing your post accordingly.  Calling these kids “migrants” actually undercuts your (and our) argument and is a disservice to the youths involved.

    • To move towards a more global approach to the question of migration.  Immigration only tells part of the story, emigration is another part of the story.  Migration is the whole story.  That’s why the pro-migrant sanctuarysphere seeks to characterize this as a debate about migration.

      <

      p>I’ve wrote a post here about it.  The Correct Term is Migrant. Also read this post We Are All Migrants.

      <

      p>I got involved in this debate believing that the only solution to this problem is to tackle the roots of migration and make sure we live in a world where people migrate out of want and not out of need.  

      <

      p>Your point is well taken.  These kids have strong roots in the U.S., and they would probably identify themselves as immigrants.  I just believe a global approach forces us to approach this from a migration perspective.
       

      • A more global approach to just about everything is generally a good idea, no question.  Were people to assume such a perspective we would likely make inroads into the myriad issues surrounding the Other that have plagued our society and others for eternity.

        <

        p>I don’t see, however, where blending two words with essentially opposite meanings is helpful to either the larger goal or the immediate need of the kids in Massachusetts.  Intentionally applying a label to these kids that they, themselves, would not use and which  conveys the exact opposite of how they view themselves seems counterproductive and a wee bit disrespectful.  Doesn’t seem quite fair to hang the burden of the metamorphosis of the term migrant and the evolution of global thinking on the current plight of these students.  

        <

        p>But I understand your point.  (shrug)

        • Using the term migrant is something that the pro-migrant blogosphere has embraced though, including migrant youth.  Check out A Dream Deferred a blog that I helped get together along with undocumented youth with Brave New Films.

          • why don’t we extend the in-state tuition rate to any “legal” citizen migrants?  Heck, if some kid from out of state wants to attend the UMass system, let’s give them the subsidy.  After all, they’re going to be residents by attending a Mass school. They can’t help the fact that they come from another state (mean parents) through no fault of their own?

            • is for residents of Massachusetts. it doesn’t apply to people who lived in a different state or different country right up til enrolling. Anyone should be able to come to Massachusetts to live from anywhere and be allowed to enroll as a resident after living in the state 3 years (as current law provides), but no one should be discriminated against because of immigration status or any other irrelevant criteria.

      • Another “WHAT PART OF ILLEGULZ DONT YOU UNDERSTAND COMMENTER”.  If you’re comfortable dehumanizing people with the term “illegal aliens”, there’s no reason for me to even try to debate you.

  4. I’d like to give the Gov the benefit of the doubt on this one, and I doubt that this should be lumped into this post.  There are some egregious abuses being heaped on H1B and other visa holders, and if this hotline has been set up to report civil rights abuses of that type, I’m all for it.  I’ve been meaning to post about H1B’s and share a lot of the information I’ve collected.  I’ll do so in the next couple days.  Tim Murray was very good about looking into the subject, and I’m hoping this is in response to his pushing to do something about the problems.  If so, kudos to Deval and Tim.  

    • The task force should have had migrant representation though if it truly was interested in protecting migrant communities in Massachusetts.  It’s only now that they’re starting to reach out.  There will be more on this coming as more people get a chance to respond.  The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition already voice concerns in a press release that has not been uploaded to their website yet.

      • your post the first time, I was confused about the purpose of the hot line.  There could be a number of different interpretations, and there was insufficient information in the article.  I want to believe that we just don’t have all the facts yet and there was a sincere focus on protecting “migrant” communities (and I concur with Lightiris that the term doesn’t convey your meaning very well).  Does anyone have more details on the task force?  Calling Doug Rubin?

    • Check it out:

      <

      p>

      IMMIGRANT ADVOCATES HIT WORKPLACE FRAUD HOTLINE
      An immigrant advocacy group on Wednesday slammed a new toll-free hotline for workplace fraud, saying individuals with racial or personal biases could abuse it.

      The hotline was launched as part of Gov. Deval Patrick’s Joint Task Force on the Underground Economy. “Creating an anonymous hotline for anyone to call with alleged employer violations would lead to tremendous abuse by people with racial, personal, or other animus towards a particular employer or employee,” Eva Millona, acting executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition said in a statement. “Employers and employees could be unfairly targeted and investigated as a result of forwarding low-quality and unreliable complaints to authorities.”

      Examples from the Patrick administration of underground economy employers include misclassifying employees as independent contractors and creating separating business entities to avoid paying unemployment insurance premiums. “The Governor and the administration must use great caution, threading the needle to ensure that all workers get equal protections and the fragile economy is not hurt during this uncertain economic period,” Millona said, adding that the task force should be representative of foreign-born workers who make up 17 percent of the workforce.

      • That’s quite a sweeping press release from MIRA. I usually like their work, but here they seem to be overreacting to something we know little about.

        <

        p>I personally like the idea of an anonymous tip line for whistleblowers to protect the rights of workers. I would hope and expect the operators to require detailed information on any alleged violations that wouldn’t settle for vague racist rants about “illegal immigrant looking people” working here or there.

        <

        p>So maybe the devil’s in the details, but I think the concept is is great and, with the right care in execution, could have a very positive impact.

  5. <

    p>Deval will be on the first train down to D.C. if Barack becomes president.  United States Attorney General Deval Patrick has a nice ring to it!

    <

    p>Massachusetts is just a weigh station on the road for Deval. Mitt, Deval, whose next?

    <

    p>Call me a cynic.  Do you feel used yet?  Is betrayed too strong a word?

    <

    p>

      • Assuming he doesnt take a 12:20 Amtrak to DC on January 20th who else do we got? I do not see a credible challenger who could take him on in the primary. No one, Galvin, Cahill, Coakley, or any of the Congressmen would be willing to risk the safety of incumbency to take on a sitting governor who still has a lot of grassroots support and clout-and the support of a potential President. Additionally nobody on the GOP side of the equation will be receptive to this initiative either, the goal of truly universal healthcare, fixing our states education system, and creating a more progressive tax code. I’ve heard a lot about Charlie Baker but I honestly do not know enough about him to trust him as of yet. We are really in a pickle.

        <

        p>Not to mention you’d really need to clean house on Beacon Hill and get rid of at least half of those hacks before you could get anything done.  

  6. The Governor still supports the issue but maybe there were some real legal barriers to his ability to issue the order or change the regs.  

    <

    p>I think the post glosses over the point that he is still supportive and wants to see this happen.  

  7. And if the best and brightest right wing pundits don’t pick this up I’m gonna point it out to them.  They are going to love it.

  8. I thought I remembered this proposal being brought forward early in his term and it was defeated in the General Court.  Am I completely making that up or is there something else I’m missing?

    <

    p>Also, I thought the progressive side favored cracking down on employers who exploit these workers.  I’m in favor of such a whistleblowing hotline.

  9. There are very convincing economic arguments to be made for why it’s not only the right thing to do, but it’s also the smart economic thing to do, that would help Patrick to overcome the “anti-immigrant” sentiment that’s out there and reduce the “damage” he might expereince from keeping his word.

    <

    p>From what I recall, the Why It Makes Sense To Support In-state Tuition documents created by MIRA and the In-state Tuition Coalition made compelling economic arguments. I received them to review as part of our decision-making process on whether to support in-state tuition with fellow members at the Mass. Nurses Association Policy and Legislation Committee. I don’t have the docs. now and can’t remember the exact figures but I know it was very straight forward and convincing.

    <

    p>We supported the bill and the policy for a variety of reasons including social justice and also felt the economic arguments in favor were quite convincing. The economic argument goes something like: higher education level leads to: higher paying jobs and more contributions to the tax base; leads to lower use of tax-funded programs for healthcare and the like, etc… and the cost of in-state tuition for this small group of students was really quite small compared to the economic payoff (was the cost projected at about $175K a year, or $375K?).

    <

    p>I’ll tell ya, a lot of people I know are really on the verge of “checking out” again due to Gov. Patrick not keeping his word and not being consistent with the values he stated would  shape and guide his governing of the Commonwealth. This issue is one example, the casino thing is another, and not being honest about the disastrous mandatory purchase of private health insurance law known as Chapter 58 that’s really a house-of-cards falling on the backs of the uninsured, the state’s community health centers, and us taxpayers while the insurance companies get to keep their place at the helm.

    Money woes confront state health program

    The Berkshire Eagle, 2/8/08, by Clarence Fanto

    “… The governor did acknowledge the extent of the difficulty — “the rate of increase in premiums is a serious problem for the state system and for private individuals, families and businesses as well.

    …and there’s a view out there that as long as private insurance is a part of health-care reform, we’re never really going to break the back of the pattern.” He called for serious consideration of a single-payer universal health care solution by the next administration in Washington…”

    This excerpt provides a glimpse into some sensible thinking on the part of our Governor on one of the biggest social justice crises confronting our society today (the U.S. health care crisis). It’s right up there with the Immigration Policy issue. Governor Patrick’s above statements make a lot of sense that the average person is fully aware of and is in agreement with, and his statements include support for the reform policy that’s required to enact a real solution, namely single-payer improved Medicare-for-All. (To learn more see http://www.MassCare.org and http://www.GuaranteedHealthcar… )

    <

    p>Why hasn’t Governor Deval Patrick ever spoken these sensible words about real health care reform publicly again? What is leadership about anyway? Could it be for the same reasons that he’s not doing right by our immigrant children who are long-time members of our community and who will most likely continue to be our neighbors and co-workers for years to come? Has Deval Patrick been reduced to doing what the power-brokers and poll-driven political winds will “allow” him to do?  Tell us it ain’t so and then prove it. Please.  

    • Thanks for expressing your opinion.  It was a pleasure to read this and I think you hit the nail on the head with a lot of your words.

  10. I understand the disappointment, but what I don’t see is what  actions could have been taken to allow migrants in-state tuition.  As I understand it (and please let me know if this is wrong) the legislature won’t pass this, it’s been debated.  

    <

    p>I recall Deval stating a few months back that he was looking into a means to circumvent the lege and your link quoted staffers saying there were “significant legal impediments” in that approach.  

    <

    p>Did he say that he will not longer fight to get in-state tuition to migrants?

    <

    p>Your quote from the Globe, emphasis mine:

    <

    p>

    Governor Deval Patrick has decided against taking action to allow illegal immigrants to pay resident tuition and fees at state colleges and universities this fall, an administration official said yesterday

    <

    p>From this he has turned his back on a promise and sold out migrant youth?  I see it as he pushed for it and the state is not ready, he doesn’t have the votes and there are legal issues in trying to circumvent the process.  Does that mean that it’s completely gone and his administration will no longer pursue it?  I don’t think so, I see this coming back again.  I see that that for this fall they don’t have a solution to via regulation or by other means to get it done.

    <

    p>It stinks and it’s dumb, not only is it the right thing to do, Widmer is already on the record as saying that it will actually help the economy as well.  I think it’s a win-win.  Maybe a bigger push and more support from the people in the state is what is needed.

    • I see you emphasis on this fall, and I will point back to what I said earlier.  This means that for hundreds of migrant youth their hopes of college this year have been dashed.

      <

      p>If Patrick wants to make the case for not passing in-state tuition this year, that’s fine, but he has to make the case and be honest about it with the hundreds of migrant youth that he has left in the dust this year.  

      <

      p>Patrick has been completely evasive on this subject.  Where is the articulate governor we elected?  Where is the Patrick that would level with people in a way that we didn’t have to find out about this through some “anonymous source” in the Globe.

      <

      p>Legal issues?  If there are legal issues with passing an executive order then be honest about them, because from what I hear, Patrick is just hiding behind these legal issues as legal experts have proclaimed them to be nonexistent.  

      <

      p>I’m glad that you agree in-state tuition needs to be passed though.

  11. Several people have brought up the “legal impediments” that Patrick is using as an excuse not to go through with this.  If it is true, Patrick should come forward and cite those legal concerns, but if history is any guide, they’re probably bringing up the same concerns that were brought up in the past.  Concerns that would have to be addressed if the legislature passed this, too.

    <

    p>The only two concerns that have been brought up when it comes to in-state tuition have to do with the following laws:

    <

    p>Section 411 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996:

    <

    p>

    (d) STATE AUTHORITY TO PROVIDE FOR ELIGIBILITY OF ILLEGAL ALIENS FOR STATE AND LOCAL PUBLIC BENEFITS- A State may provide that an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States is eligible for any State or local public benefit for which such alien would otherwise be ineligible under subsection (a) only through the enactment of a State law after the date of the enactment of this Act which affirmatively provides for such eligibility.

    <

    p>And the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996:

    <

    p>

    (a) In General.–Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision) for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or
    national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit (in no less an amount, duration, and scope) without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.

    <

    p>You can do your own research into these provisions but attempts to use these provisions to deny migrants in-state tuition have all failed.  Kansas is a good example.

    <

    p>If Patrick is citing other legal issues, then he should make them public, but I believe there are none and Patrick is just using “legal impediments” as an excuse.  

    <

    p>If Patrick doesn’t want to act to assist the hundreds of migrant youth that will not be able to go to college this year, then they deserve to hear it to their face.  

  12. If the Governor can legally change this law by executive order and does not need legislative approval to do it, he should just do it. I would recommend that he wait until after the November election so it doesn’t affect Obama.

    <

    p>It is more important to do the right thing, then it is to get reelected. At least, this will make a difference in the lives of hundreds of future Massachusetts taxpayers. Let them get the college education that they are otherwise qualified for, and not be stuck cleaning houses and waiting on tables for the rest of their lives.

  13. The Governor’s position has not changed – he supports the issue and continues to believe this is an issue of fundamental fairness and that young people that graduate from Massachusetts public schools should be eligible for the same tuition rates as their peers regardless of their immigration status.  

    <

    p>Based on a request from the Legislature and advocates, we conducted a legal review to see if these changes could be made by regulation instead of through legislation.  However, after an exhaustive review of the issue by our legal team, they believe that there are significant legal impediments to implementing this change administratively. This is a change that will need to be enacted through legislation, legislation that the Governor does support.

    • I am blessed to have Barrows and Porrier in my area (sheesh),  guess what their position is? (but I’ll call to confirm).  I’ll call after the holiday.

    • Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post.  It would have been nice to have received a direct statement like this from the Patrick administration earlier, rather than have to find out about it in the Boston Globe through an anonymous source.

      <

      p>Could you please identify the specific legal impediments that we’ve heard about so much?  Sources I’m familiar with say there are no legal impediments to implementing this change administratively.  I also know precedent has shown us that legal challenges to in-state tuition have all been defeated, most notably in California and Kansas.  

      <

      p>I also believe that the Patrick administration owes some sort of explanation to the hundreds of migrant students whose dreams of college this year have been crushed by this recent announcement.  No major push has been made on their behalf since Patrick was elected to provide them the same opportunities afforded to their peers and it’s only a matter of time before elected officials start saying, “let’s wait until 2009 to see what the next President will do.”

      <

      p>I look forward to hearing exactly what those specific legal impediments are.

      <

      p>  

  14. Come on Ruben… Let’s be honest here. The governor does not want to spend any political capital on this… Let’s be honest. He can do it, but it is not “politically” possible. Maybe, when he approval rates are a bit better that Bush, he might be able to do it.

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