She’s been accused of fear-mongering and obstruction of justice – but state rep. Michelle DuBois insists she’s just doing her job looking out for her constituents.
The Brockton, Massachusetts rep. has recently faced a backlash after posting a warning to Facebook about possible ICE raids.
“I got the following information from my friend in the Latin community: I have a message for the immigrant community of Brockton. Please be careful on Wednesday 29. ICE will be in Brockton on that day. If you are undocumented don’t go out on the street. If there is a knock on the door of your house and you don’t know who it is, don’t open the door. I ask you to be careful,” she had shared, along with the phone number for legal services for immigration.
Residents like Jerry Terminiello were furious about the tip-off, calling for the ousting of “illegal immigrants” and “criminals.” The Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson seemed to agree.
“This is the most outrageous, outrageous example of what’s going on across the United States that’s undermining my job and every other law enforcement officer in the United States,” he said.
And ICE spokesman Shawn Neudauer condemned DuBois, saying, “Any person who actively incites panic or fear of law enforcement is doing a disservice to the community, endangering public safety and the very people they claim to support and represent.”
But DuBois just doesn’t see it that way. “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 their intended raid if there was one,” DuBois said in a statement.
And if we’re being fair here, there have been a number of ICE raids lately. CNN even reported on raids in “sanctuary cities” – cities and/or counties that have policies in place designed to limit cooperation or involvement in the enforcement of federal immigration operations – to bully them into compliance.
Elected officials in Los Angles have even asked immigration officers to stop identifying themselves as police because such raids “undercut years of police effort to build trust in immigrant communities.”
They took issue with ICE agents showing up at people’s doors, pretending to be police officers. The mayor, attorney and City Council shared their issues in a letter written last month.
So was DuBois really obstructing justice with a Facebook post, or was she just doing her job by looking out for her constituents?
