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Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state, but a recent memo to Bay State police chiefs has turned the Registry of Motor Vehicles into a sanctuary state agency.
In a memo obtained exclusively by the Herald, Massachusetts police chiefs were warned to keep RMV records locked away from immigration officials unless there’s a “judicial warrant” or grand jury or trial “subpoena.”
It leaves no doubt that ICE and Border Patrol agents are specifically blocked from accessing driving records in the wake of the state’s new immigrant driver’s license law.
This game of keep-away with Homeland Security echoes the policies of the state’s sanctuary, or “welcoming” cities ( Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Concord, Newton, Northampton, and Somerville). Practices vary, but these cities and towns limit cooperation with federal immigration laws.
Thanks to that new RMV law, eligible state residents can apply for a standard driver’s license, regardless of immigration status.
If you’re here illegally, you’ll get a warm welcome from Massachusetts.
The dichotomy between Homeland Security at the border and in the Bay State is staggering: Border patrol agents deported thousands of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally in the weeks after Title 42 ended, while we hand out drivers licenses to illegal migrants and now hamper ICE from accessing their RMV info.
Did Massachusetts secede when no one was looking?
Immigration officials can see RMV records, but only if there’s a “judicial warrant” or grand jury or trial “subpoena.”
In other words, we’ll wait until something really bad happens before letting ICE act.
That memo was undated, and the RMV policy was thankfully not in force when ICE agents in Boston arrested Hever Alexander Chim, a Guatemalan citizen, on charges related to the rape of a child by force.
At some point while under house arrest conditions, Chim was able to obtain a state-issued driver’s license, which a law enforcement source shared with the Herald. It was access to his motor vehicle records that allowed ICE to find him.
“I’m proud of our ERO Boston officers who show their commitment daily to protecting public safety. It’s because of their dedication that this suspected predator was located and apprehended,” said Todd Lyons, the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations’ Boston field office.
ICE is doing its part to try and keep our communities safe, so why throw spike strips in its path?
The progressive reasoning behind protecting those who enter the U.S. illegally is that those who do so shouldn’t have to fear the consequences of their actions. It’s a slap in the face to all those who came to this country legally and worked for citizenship.
Those who point out community safety needs amid the influx of illegal migrants are often painted as fearmongers, but the fact is, some very bad actors are making the journey north.
In its annual Homeland Threat Assessment report, the DHS said law enforcement stopped 160 people on the terror watch list from entering the US illegally at America’s borders this fiscal year.
The ICE and border patrol agents have their work cut out for them – and it’s work they’re doing for all of us.
What is to be gained from making their jobs harder?
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