I write in support of the mission and pray for the safety of ICE agents who were enforcing long-standing immigration laws in North Plymouth, a job embarrassingly made more difficult and dangerous in this state where local law enforcement is prohibited from cooperating. Some suggest that remaining in the country without authorization is a civil crime and thus insignificant. However, the civil punishment under the law is detainment followed by deportation. It makes sense to prioritize those who have committed crimes or have deportation orders, and maybe accommodations can be made for some in the future who have behaved well, but we can’t have uncontrolled immigration or people of unknown status placing risks and burdens on American citizens.
It was wrong and potentially dangerous that mass immigration was allowed as a tool for potential political gain. ICE now must deal with the problems of the “got-aways,” the drug and human traffickers, and suspected terrorists who came into the country along with the mass influx. Due process on the front end didn’t seem to matter to those loudly calling for it now on the back end. Along with creating law enforcement risks and chaos, citizens in Plymouth and elsewhere are paying the tab.
A 2023 study by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) puts the cost of providing federal and state services for these immigrants, net of taxes they might pay, at approximately $150 billion per year. Massachusetts is at the top of the list of states incurring a cost of $7,396 per taxpayer, trailing only Hawaii. One writer to the Plymouth Independent threatens to file lawsuits against states and municipalities like Plymouth on behalf of the immigrants. If sympathetic states and localities choose to settle, once again the taxpayers in Plymouth will foot the bill while lawyers and NGO facilitators continue to benefit.
The hysterical fearmongering by our congressional and state representatives is disgraceful and unwarranted. The drama queens protesting ICE and “No Kings” are likely among the same individuals who were silent during the Puppet Presidency when a cabal of unknown Rasputins ran the country, and a replacement presidential candidate was anointed without a single democratic primary vote. They weaponized government against their political opponents and in their own words sought “workarounds” to skirt legal obstacles to unfettered immigration among other examples. That is authoritarianism. Recent childish theatrical stunts in Plymouth and around the country are unpersuasive and wearing thin.
– Tim Costello