Special to the Record
At a town hall in Chelsea last week, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley reaffirmed her solidarity with immigrant families under threat from the Trump Administration and condemned the harrowing assassination and assassination attempts targeting elected officials and their families that took place the previous weekend in Minnesota.
Pressley also denounced what she said was the president’s march toward authoritarianism, including what she called his North Korea-style military parade in Washington, DC, and more.
Joined by community leaders at La Colaborativa in Chelsea, including La Colaborativa leadership, Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez, the Chelsea Black Community, and elected officials from across the Massachusetts 7th, Pressley addressed constituents impacted by the Trump Administration’s mass deportation agenda.
“It is so good to be in Chelsea, the city that I often refer to as tiny but mighty, a city that models community in every way, that leads with love and with solidarity,” Pressley said. “Before I go any further, I just want to address the violence that we witnessed this past weekend in Minnesota. The targeted shootings of Minnesota Senator John Hoffman, Representative Melissa Hortman and their spouses, the tragic deaths of Rep. Hortman and her husband.
“Truly devastating that we find ourselves at a time simply because people disagree, that we are seeing an escalating political violence,” Pressley continued. “These are public servants, people who dedicated their lives to building stronger, safer communities. And there must be outcry, there must be outrage, and strong condemnation for what happened to them.”
Pressley stated that in the last week, Trump unlawfully deployed the National Guard to attack peaceful protesters in California, then a sitting United States Black Congresswoman was indicted for doing her job and conducting federal oversight of an ICE detention facility in her district.
“Then, a Latino United States Senator was manhandled, thrown to the floor and handcuffed for daring to ask a question of this administration,” Pressley said. “And then, a North Korea-style military parade marched through our nation’s capital in an appalling display of authoritarianism.”
Pressley said Trump wants a country where its people are ignorant and uninformed and where its people are indifferent to the suffering of their neighbors and where people are inactive.
“The fact that you chose to be here tonight is in opposition to all three of those things,” Pressley told those gathered for the town hall. “You are choosing to be informed, you are choosing to be empathetic, you are choosing to be active. I’m so grateful for the courageous people of Chelsea that are here tonight.
“Because remember, courage is not the absence of fear,” she continued,. “Truth be told, we’re all carrying some fear in this moment, but the courage is that you are pushing beyond and through that to show up here today and every day, and we need to just acknowledge that. So clap for yourselves, the courageous people of Chelsea.”
In addition to discussing national events, Pressley touched on recent events in Chelsea, especially those revolving around immigration raids and enforcement.
“People have had their homes raided, property destroyed, families torn apart, rights trampled on by racist rogue ICE agents.,” Pressley said. “Well, we think they’re ICE agents. We don’t really know, because they’re masked, but they’re operating with little to no accountability.”
She said community members have spoken to her of being targeted without warrants, detained without due process, and living every day in fear that they or their loved ones could be taken without warning from the only home they’ve ever known.
“What is the point of all of this? The cruelty is the point,” Pressley said. “The cruelty experienced by our Chelsea neighbor Kenia and her three children driving to a Mother’s Day church service with her husband Daniel, when ICE agents in unmarked vehicles ambushed them, broke the passenger side window, forcefully pulled Daniel from the car, and slammed his face on the sidewalk while their children watched on in horror. High school students, children like Belizario Benito Vasques and recent graduate Geovani de la Cruz Catalan are being abducted and detained without due process, despite having no criminal records.
“Children, real people, children and adults alike, traumatized whose lives have been disrupted and forever harmed.”
Pressley said she came to Chelsea to reaffirm her commitment to protect and to support immigrant neighbors, and to do that work with her colleagues at every level of government.
“That means pushing for real accountability,” she said. “That means providing legal protections and a pathway to citizenship. That means investing in communities instead of criminalizing them. I really do believe that we’re one human family, and our destinies are tied, and when one of us is targeted, all of us must rise in defense. So to our neighbors, know that I see you today and every day.”
Pressley said now is the time when “we must show up for each other, where we double down on mutual aid, where we keep each other safe. I am my brother’s keeper. I am my sister’s keeper. It is truly the honor of my life to serve the Massachusetts 7th, a district that reflects the best of who we are. And know this, you are not just constituents. You are family, and I will never stop fighting for you like that.”