A Commitment to Our Community
LINCOLN WITNESS is a Lincoln, Massachusetts-based volunteer group that supports immigrants, educates the community, and advocates for human and civil rights in the face of a fast-moving immigration crackdown. Members are committed to showing up and documenting the treatment of immigrants by those who would detain or disappear them. Committed to nonviolent resistance, Lincoln Witness coordinates with nearby towns and organizations to protect our neighbors and preserve the rule of law and due process for all.
Witness seeks common ground with people who may not agree with us on every issue. Regardless of where you stand on immigration, we think everyone can agree that immigration law in the United States is broken and needs fixing. Real immigration reform is needed to establish clearer, more affordable, and efficient pathways to citizenship; acknowledge the economic and social contributions of immigrants; address the status of long-term residents who have been contributing members of society; ensure the humane treatment of migrants; and maintain national security.
Human Rights
Politicians have used immigration as a wedge issue that divides Americans. Terrorizing the immigrant community is not the answer. Oftentimes, families and attorneys cannot locate the detained people, and there are many reports of poor conditions at detention facilities. Many have been deported to countries in which they are not safe, or even countries to which they have no connection and may face torture.
What the Constitution Says
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No state shall … deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” -14th Amendment, U.S. Constitution
What ICE is doing
ICE has been tasked with arresting 3000 people per day (1,095,000 per year). And while the Trump Administration says they are taking dangerous criminals off the streets, the majority of people arrested have never been convicted of a crime (being undocumented in the U.S. is not a criminal offense, but a civil one). The Administration is violating due process rights, free speech rights, and violating court orders.
“When injustice becomes law,
resistance becomes duty.”
– Thomas Jefferson