Walsh calls on Congress to figure out immigration
Mayor Martin J. Walsh praised the important role that immigrants play in American society and challenged Congress to work toward comprehensive immigration reform during the city’s annual Fourth of July celebration at Faneuil Hall.
“I wish that our national immigration policy was written and crafted with the same care and courage that immigrants display every single day in our country,” Walsh said, drawing a long round of applause from the capacity crowd crammed into the historic building.
“Long before they take the (citizenship) oath, whatever their status, the vast majority of immigrants live out the meaning of our founding values,” he said.
Walsh didn’t mention President Trump — who has cracked down on illegal immigrants and launched efforts to bar refugees and visitors from Muslim-majority countries since taking office — but instead said he looks to Congress to tackle the problem through legislation.
“Boston is a city built on immigrants,” Walsh told the Herald. “I think it’s important through this Fourth of July, our message is to Congress and the Senate, ‘Let’s look at immigration reform, let’s look at fixing this problem rather than pointing fingers and blaming other nationalities based on where they come from.’ ”
“Orange is the New Black” actress Diane Guerrero, the daughter of Colombian immigrants who was raised in Jamaica Plain, was the holiday celebration’s keynote speaker.
She spoke about her happy childhood in Boston before her parents were deported when she was 14.
“Our American life, filled with cotton candy and lobster grabbers and balloons for me, was cut short for them,” Guerrero said. “My parents were deported before they could see my dreams become reality.”
The Faneuil Hall gathering wrapped up a fife-and-drum parade that began at City Hall Plaza and wove through the downtown area, stopping at the Old Granary Burial Ground and for the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence from the balcony of the Old State House.