Massachusetts state Rep. Michelle DuBois (D) took to Facebook this week to warn the “immigrant community of Brockton” of an alleged impending raid by ICE.
ICE raid in Brockton on 3/28 and 29th
If you get picked up by ICE, call legal services direct line for immigration help: 774-488-5961
She went on to warn undocumented immigrants to stay off the streets and even advised them not to answer their doors. Rep. DuBois’s Facebook post was bombarded with disapproving comments, yet she dismisses and deletes them as attacks and defends her actions by claiming that she has done nothing wrong. She even compared her Facebook persecution to the plight of the American immigrant.
I am an elected State Representative and the responses to one facebook post has caused people from across the Nation to inundate my facebook page with some pretty ugly and threatening posts. If this is what happens to an elected representative – what must be happening to immigrants every day in our Nation, both documented and not documented.
Michelle DuBois either doesn’t realize or chooses to ignore the simple fact that illegal aliens are criminals. It’s so simple — it’s right there in the term: illegal. While perhaps not easy, there are legal ways to immigrate to the U.S. and eventually gain citizenship. Those who are here illegally, for one reason or another, chose to commit a crime. Many illegals sneak across the border to evade legal prosecution for crimes committed in their home countries. While not all illegal immigrants commit crimes other than jumping the border, many do. This should come as no surprise. Since those here illegally chose to disregard the law in coming here, why not continue to do so once here?
Ms. DuBois tried to downplay her obvious attempt to thwart law enforcement efforts by claiming that she was warning all immigrants (undocumented and documented), but the simple truth is that immigrants who have their papers in order have little reason to fear detainment and deportation. She further justified her post and diminished its significance by saying that she was only repeating what everyone already knew. She even went so far as to insinuate that she might have done ICE a favor.
Passing information along that is already all-over the community, not only lets the people I represent know what is happening, it lets ICE know that everyone in Brockton is aware of ICE’s planned raid (if there was one).
Having ICE know that this rumor is wide-spread in Brockton allows them to change the date if they feel the public’s knowledge of the raid would undermine their planned raid.
Her claim that the post notified ICE as much as the immigrants is so obviously, an attempt at rationalization that it hardly bears mentioning. Her refusal to see her crime, on the other hand, does call for an explanation. Michelle DuBois’s post gave criminals in the area the heads-up in order to evade law enforcement. This is no different than if she had tipped off a local drug dealer, gun runner, or brothel of an impending raid. Her actions aided and abetted criminals who are fugitives from the law.
Even worse, Rep. DuBois is, as she points out, an elected representative. As such, she has a higher responsibility to the law than the average citizen. As a state representative, her duty is to help make laws, not obstruct them.
