#DedhamMA -Decision expected on controversial "ICE was here" #nativity display in Massachusetts

By Samantha Chaney
December 8, 2025

"A decision is expected today on a controversial 'ICE was here' nativity scene at a Dedham, Massachusetts church.

"The display outside St. Susanna's Parish has the anti-ICE message where Jesus, Mary and Joseph would normally be, suggesting that they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. It was installed the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

"The Boston Archdiocese wants it taken down, saying the display goes against church norms around sacred objects.

'The people of God have the right to expect that, when they come to church, they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship-not divisive political messaging,' the Archdiocese's message read in part. 'The display should be removed, and the manger restored to its proper sacred purpose.'

"The church's priest Father Stephen Josoma declined an on-camera interview with WBZ-TV, but said the church is continuing to speak on humanitarian issues facing the country. "

Read more:
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/ice-was-here-nativity-dedham/

#ResistICE #MassachusettsResists #ICESucks

#Maine joins 20 states to challenge #Trump administration funding cuts

by MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press
Wed, June 25th 2025

BOSTON (AP) — "Attorneys general from more than 20 states, including Maine, and #WashingtonDC filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging billions of dollars in funding cuts made by the Trump administration that would fund everything from crime prevention to #FoodSecurity to #ScientificResearch.

"The lawsuit filed in Boston is asking a judge to limit the Trump administration from relying on an obscure clause in the federal regulation to cut grants that don’t align with its priorities. Since January, the lawsuit argues that the administration has used that clause to cancel entire programs and thousands of grants that had been previously awarded to states and grantees.

" 'Defendants’ decision to invoke the Clause to terminate grants based on changed agency priorities is #unlawful several times over,' the plaintiffs argued. 'The rulemaking history of the Clause makes plain that the (Office of Management and Budget - #OMB) intended for the Clause to permit terminations in only limited circumstances and provides no support for a broad power to terminate grants on a whim based on newly identified agency priorities.'

"The lawsuit argues the Trump administration has used the clause for the basis of a 'slash-and-burn campaign' to cut federal grants.

" 'Defendants have terminated thousands of grant awards made to Plaintiffs, pulling the rug out from under the States, and taking away critical federal funding on which States and their residents rely for essential programs,' the lawsuit added.

"The White House's Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to a request made Tuesday afternoon for comment.

"#RhodeIsland Attorney General Neronha said this lawsuit was just one of several the coalition of mostly Democratic states have filed over funding cuts. For the most part, they have largely succeeded in a string of legal victories to temporarily halt cuts.

"This one, though, may be the broadest challenge to those funding cuts.

" 'It’s no secret that this President has gone to great lengths to intercept federal funding to the states, but what may be lesser known is how the Trump Administration is attempting to justify their unlawful actions,' Neronha said in a statement. 'Nearly every lawsuit this coalition of Democratic attorneys general has filed against the Administration is related to its unlawful and flagrant attempts to rob Americans of basic programs and services upon which they rely. Most often, this comes in the form of illegal federal funding cuts, which the Administration attempts to justify via a so-called agency priorities clause.'

"#Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the lawsuit aimed to stop funding cuts he described as indiscriminate and illegal.

" 'There is no ‘because I don’t like you’ or ‘because I don’t feel like it anymore’ defunding clause in federal law that allows the President to bypass Congress on a whim,' Tong said in a statement. 'Since his first minutes in office, Trump has unilaterally defunded our police, our schools, our healthcare, and more. He can’t do that, and that’s why over and over again we have blocked him in court and won back our funding.'

"In #Massachusetts, Attorney General Andrea Campbell said the U.S. Department of Agriculture terminated a $11 million agreement with the state Department of Agricultural Resources connecting hundreds of #farmers to hundreds of food distribution sites while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [#EPA] terminated a $1 million grant to the state Department of Public Health to reduce asthma triggers in #LowIncome communities.

" 'We cannot stand idly by while this President continues to launch unprecedented, unlawful attacks on Massachusetts’ residents, institutions, and economy,' Campbell said in a statement."

Read more:
https://wgme.com/news/local/maine-joins-20-states-to-challenge-trump-administration-funding-cuts

#MainePol #USPol #TrumpSucks #Authoritarianism #TrumpHatesThePoor #FundingCuts #ResistTrump #MaineResists #MassachusettsResists

#Protesters honor #veterans, rally for #ImmigrantRights on #MemorialDay in downtown #Boston

The “#RallyForADream” called state and local legislators to action in the fight for statewide immigrant protections.

By Darin Zullo, May 26, 2025

"Hundreds of protesters gathered on the Boston Common Monday to honor veterans and rally for statewide protections for immigrants.

"The Memorial Day Rally for a Dream, organized by #Mass50501, was held on Memorial Day to honor fallen military personnel while supporting the ideals that they died for, organizers said. The group has hosted numerous protests since President Donald Trump’s second term in office began, including the nationwide '#HandsOff!' protest that saw tens of thousands of protesters in Boston alone.

" 'We felt it was really important to do this today,' Rebecca Winter, a spokesperson for Mass 50501, told Boston.com. 'We’re calling this march the Rally for a Dream because we see that the American dream is being desecrated right now with all of the harm being done to immigrants in our state.'

"The rally began at City Hall Plaza, where Kylie Bemis, a Mass #50501Movement member and assistant teaching professor of computer science at Northeastern University, kicked it off with chants like 'show me what democracy looks like' and 'no hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.' Bemis has been outspoken about the #Trump administration and previously called on Northeastern administrators to do the same.

" 'I’m #NativeAmerican from #ZuniPueblo, and I’m a #transgender woman, so I feel like I was born into this kind of #resistance,' Bemis told Boston.com. 'When I saw that things were swiftly moving towards #authoritarianism, I felt an obligation to do my part, to resist, to speak up, to point out the injustices that other people seemed to be missing.' "

Read more:
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2025/05/26/protesters-honor-veterans-rally-for-immigrant-rights-at-memorial-day-demonstration/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/GA1b4

#Massachusetts #MassachusettsResists #Reistance #AntiAuthoritarian