BOSTON, MA, -- The Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition is among advocacy groups slamming Governor Mitt Romney’s plan to allow Massachusetts State Police to arrest illegal immigrants in the state.
Romney’s deal, coming ahead of the installation in January of the state’s first black governor-elect, Deval L. Patrick, will allow two dozen or three dozen troopers to detain people they establish are illegal immigrants.
Ali Noorani, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said the move is another of Romney’s attempts to “scapegoat immigrants for political gain.”
The group also slammed Romney as a hypocrite, following the Boston Globe reports last week that he employed undocumented immigrants for the past 10 years for landscaping services in his suburban Belmont home.
“MIRA is more than happy to fully brief Governor Romney on the intricacies of federal immigration policy, and help him devise solutions that keep our country safe, our communities strong and his lawn well manicured,” added Noorani in a statement.
Estimates put the undocumented population in Massachusetts at more than 100,000.
