BIC says 'all immigrants can have their success story' in Brockton, demands city support

BROCKTON — Maria Miranda came to Brockton from Cape Verde at 12 years old. By the time she was 23, she was a mother. And just a decade after that, Miranda became completely deaf.

Throughout this time, Miranda struggled with pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse. She faced discrimination because of her disability, and she was in an abusive relationship.

Then, when Miranda was in her forties, she realize her life had to change.

"I feel courageous enough to tell my story because I stayed quiet for so long," she said. "At 42, I graduated from Massasoit Community College, and I was the first and only person in my family to graduate from college."

Miranda was just one of many immigrants at Brockton Interfaith Community's Welcome and Inclusion event on Oct. 20 at the Joseph Plouffe Academy, and her experience with coming to this country with family is like the thousands of others who come from near and far.

Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) is working on establishing an Immigrant Welcoming Center in Brockton as a way to welcome immigrants to the city.

The hope is that the center will be "funded, staffed and supported by the city, in partnership with BIC and other immigrant justice organizations," according to George Angel Barreras, one of the Immigration Team members.

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The organization also introduced seven 'Welcoming Standards' for the city to adopt:

• Civic engagement

• Connected communities

• Economic development

• Education

• Equitable access

• Government and community leadership

• Safe communities

"We want Brockton to be a place where all immigrants, children of immigrants and their descendants can become involved in their community through civic engagement, equitable access to resources and having their voices be heard," Barreras said.

The Immigration Team at BIC is made up of people who have a close connection to the issue, most of whom are immigrants, or descendants of immigrants, themselves.

All members of the community were invited, but BIC made it clear they were asking from support from city officials.

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"We asked Mayor (Robert) Sullivan and all of the city councilors to come tonight to show their support for the immigrants in our community and the work we do at BIC," Barreras said.

Of all the officials who were invited, only Councilor-at-large Rita Mendes — who is the Democratic nominee for the 11th Plymouth state representative seat — and Ward 5 City Councilor Jeffrey Thompson showed up.

Sullivan was not at the event because he was in Greenville, S.C. on an economic development trip with Brockton's CFO and planner meeting with Greenville chamber of commerce and city officials, a spokesperson said.

"Already, Brockton's mission statement says the city is a welcoming and diverse city with a culturally vibrant community," Barreras continued. "But we want the city to serve as a place where all immigrants can have their success story."

Both Mendes and Thompson are immigration lawyers. Yet, their responses to BIC's asks were quite different.

Barreras invited both councilors to state whether they'd affirm helping BIC reach their goals to introduce "welcoming standards" for the immigrants in Brockton.

The first ask: "Do you commit to adopt and promote policies, procedures and local ordinances that align with the seven welcoming standards which aim to make Brockton more inclusive and welcoming for all?"

Mendes was up first. She shared her immigration story. Like Miranda, Mendes also came to the U.S. when she was 12, but she traveled from Brazil.

"It takes a committed group of people to do the work that you're asking of," she said. "Together we are stronger."

Mendes enthusiastically affirmed she would help BIC and the greater Brockton community for both of their asks.

Meanwhile, Thompson declined to say yes on the spot, saying he'd need to know more.

"I would love to say yes, but I would need to see the policies, procedures and local ordinances," Thompson said. "As a lawyer, I can't just say yes right away."

Throughout the year, BIC has been making strides, both locally and statewide to make sure policy makers understand what it means to be a certified welcoming city.

Carhla Toussaint, a Haitian immigrant and a member of the Immigration Team, said, "immigrants understand each others' plights and struggles."

"We've talked to Sen. Ed Markey about our plans and we want to make the pathway for citizenship easier for immigrants," she said.

Toussaint talked about how diverse Brockton is and how many of its residents speak a language other than English. According to the 2020 Census, 71% of Brockton residents are people of color.

"So it's important immigrants feel valued, accepted, and safe in the communities they live," she said.

The BIC team has worked with state legislators this year to defend the Work and Family Mobility Act, which is scheduled to be question four on the ballot.

The Act would "enable all qualified state residents to apply for a standard state license, regardless of immigration status, while keeping the state in full compliance with REAL ID requirements," according to the ACLU of Massachusetts.

"Yes on 4," the audience chanted as the Immigration team wrapped up the evening.

Domingos Do Rosario, a musician, sang a song about immigration. While the song was in Portuguese, the translation was displayed on the screen:

"I miss my motherland, I just wanna go...I don't wanna go in a coffin," he sang. The song was inspired by his own journey to the U.S. from Cape Verde.

"As immigrants, we all have challenging journeys," he said. "We struggle through policies that do not agree with who we are, but we are still hopeful with the idea of having the best time [in a new country]."

"We want to empower immigrants to step into their power," Barreras said.

"We want to change the city."

"After all, as Cornel West said: Justice is what love looks like in public."

Staff writer Namu Sampath can be reached at nsampath@enterprisenews.com, or you can follow her on Twitter @namusampath. Thank you, subscribers. You make this coverage possible. If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Brockton Enterprise.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton immigration: BIC asks for city support for welcome center