To the Editor:
The Multicultural Affairs Commission was created to foster communication, cooperation and mutual respect among the City of Somerville's ethnic and cultural communities.
One of our most important missions is to respond to racial or cultural tensions anywhere in the city.
The current national debate over immigration policy has highlighted many legal and social concerns within the immigrant community.
At the same time, this debate has, in some cases, raised the visibility of anti-immigrant groups and individuals whose messages of hate and anger are often directed against immigrants who have come to this country not only to build a better life, but who have fled their homelands in the face of violence, disaster or political persecution.
For these reasons, the Commission is committed to taking a strong, public stand in favor of protecting the legal and social rights of both newly arrived and long-established immigrant populations, not only here in Somerville, but across the nation.
America was built on the backs of immigrants from every nation and continent around the world, and their continuing story of courage and struggle is woven deeply in to the fabric of our nation.
Developing a fair, equitable, humane and effective immigration policy is an enormous challenge.
Even here within the Multicultural Commission, we differ on what policies may make the most sense and yield the best outcomes from the immigrants in our city and across the country.
We are unanimous, however, in the view that our city, our state and our nation have benefited from the presence, the hard work, and the diversity of their foreign-born residents.
We want to do everything in our power to make certain that our national debate about immigration policy doesn't devolve into a punitive, restrictive campaign against hard-working, law-abiding residents who happen to have been born in a different country.
We are fortunate here in Somerville to have community leaders, elected officials and public safety professionals who share our commitment to treating all our residents with dignity, fairness and respect.
Through conversation and compromise, we believe that Somerville can set an example for the entire country on the question of how to honor the dignity and legal rights of every resident.
The Multicultural Affairs Commission of Somerville
