“Immigration Policy and Our Community”

The Lincoln Town Democratic Committee will host a town hall-style meeting called “Immigration Policy and Our Community: Education and Advocacy in the Age of ICE” on Saturday, April 11 at 9:30am. The meeting will focus on immigrant rights and local ICE activity and will discuss responses (both existing and needed) to current federal immigration policies. Organizers hope to build a constituency for immigrant justice, awaken consciousness about Hanscom flights deporting immigrants, and demonstrate the seriousness with which the co-sponsors are addressing ICE, the policies governing it, and its activities. 

• Did you know that in the first six months of 2025 nearly 3000 undocumented immigrants were detained at the ICE Boston Field Office in Burlington, with 1/3 of them held for multiple days in crowded, unsanitary conditions, and did you know that this practice continues?  (Deportation Data Project)
• Did you know that in 2025, at least 114 flights left Hanscom airbase taking undocumented immigrants to prison camps in other states for detention or eventual deportation? 
• Did you know that as of February 2026, ICE had over 68,0000 undocumented immigrants in detention, of whom nearly 75% have no criminal record?  
• Do you want to learn ways that we can be effective in promoting justice?
• Do you want to hear some local success stories, as well as the challenges, because every step matters?

Panelists include:

• Jonathan Paz, former city councilor and founder of Waltham’s Fuerza, a grassroots organization supporting the local immigrant community with humanitarian and legal assistance
• Jeffrey Thielman, president and CEO, International Institute of New England, an organization founded in 1918 to support immigrants and refugees with humanitarian services and assistance with paths to citizenship
• Rev. James Hinson-Rieger, senior minister, UU Burlington and A Founding Organizer of Bearing Witness which has been holding standouts and other events for more than a year at the ICE Detention Center in Burlington
• A researcher member of the Hanscom Immigrant Deportation Investigatory Team
• A representative from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office who will identify specific issues this state faces regarding ICE and the steps being taken to address them. 

Co-sponsored by Lincoln Witness, the Racial Justice Committee at the First Parish in Lincoln, and the Social Justice Commission and St. Anne’s Church in Lincoln.