►
Description
Boston Human Rights Commission Public Meeting 3.16.23 Part 2
Watch Part 1: https://youtu.be/BplHOS9iPPo
A
You
know
Etc
it's
a
long
list,
but
you
know
not.
All
of
those
would
would
be.
You
know
under
our
first
of
all,
they
they
would
just
not
align
with
our
mandate
and
a
lot
of
those
would
be
handled
by
some
of
the
other
certifying
agencies
like
law
enforcement,
for
example,
or
the
Attorney
General's
office.
Or
you
know
you
know,
entities
like
that,
and
so,
but
there
is
a
list
of
qualifying
crimes
and
then
there's
also
a
sort
of
definition
around
what
counts,
as
trafficking
for
TVs
and
purposes.
A
As
well
so
the
idea
would
be
that
the
primary
purpose
of
the
certification
is
to
confirm,
like
I,
said
before
whether
the
victim
was
helpful
in
trying
to
detect,
investigate
or
prosecute
the
crime.
But
ultimately
it's
USCIS,
which
is
the
you
know,
Immigration
Services
they're,
the
ones
that
are
in
charge
of
ultimately
deciding
whether
it
does
qualify
that
whether
it
does
fit
within
the
definition
of
a
qualifying
crime
for
the
purposes
of
giving
a
year
or
two
visa.
A
So
we
would
not
be
in
charge
of
deciding
whether
someone
actually
gets
the
U
or
t
visa.
You
know
we
would
potentially
sign
off
on
a
certification
form,
then
they're
responsible
for
sending
it
as
part
of
their
application,
and
then
USCIS
can
very
well
look
at
that
and
say,
unfortunately,
we,
you
know,
don't
think
it
qualifies,
even
though
it
was
signed
by
an
agency.
So
we
have
yeah,
we
could
play
a
role
But,
ultimately
we're
not
the
ultimate
decision
makers
on
on
what
happens
with
that
and
so
I.
A
It
would
be
up
to
the
applicant
or
the
person
who
is
submitting
a
discrimination
claim
with
the
commission
to
also
say
in
addition
to
the
Discrimination
claim.
I
also
want
to
get
a
certification,
and
then
we
would
review
that
at
that
point
and
sorry,
I'm
just
got
a
notification
on
my
computer.
Okay.
Here
we
go
so
yeah
so
to
demonstrate
eligibility
for
the
your
TV.
So
the
commission
could
require
that
the
complainants
show
that
they
have
a
potentially
viable
claim
of
discrimination
and
lay
out
some
of
the.
A
You
know,
facts
of
that
and
and
show
that
they
were
a
victim
and
by
certifying
that
requests.
We
would
acknowledge
that
they
were
cooperating
with
the
Commission
in
investigating
what
that
you
know.
For
example,
discrimination
was
that
happened
to
them,
and
you
know
if
and
if,
if
we
take
a
look
at
that
and
they
they're
supporting
and
then
we
could
sign
off
on
the
certification,
I'm
simplifying
it
right
it
would.
It
would
take
a
little
bit
more
of
obviously
assessing
what
that
complaint
is
and
having
some
sort
of
understanding
of
like
okay.
A
Would
this
fit
under
a
mandate?
Would
this
fit
under
the
qualifying
crime
But?
Ultimately,
if
we
do
think
so,
you
know
signing
off
on
that
and
so
the
the
potential
next
steps,
If
This
Were,
something
that
we
wanted
to
continue
exploring
looking
into
and
taking
on
it.
As
a
commission,
at
least
some
of
the
the
recommendations
I
I
thought
of,
were
you
know
in
order
to
better
understand
the
feasibility
of
these
recommendations
and
to
create
practices
around
it?
A
We
should
be
Consulting
with
the
human
rights
commissions
that
currently
exist
around
the
other
cities
that
have
already
tried
to
do
this
to
see
what
have
been
some
of
the
obstacles
they've
run
into
what
have
been
some
of
the
best
practices.
How
is
it
going?
Has
it
been
helpful?
So
that's
one
piece
and
and
like
I
said,
I
did
meet
with
two
of
those
one
in
Chicago
and
one
from
New,
York
City
and
some
shortly
I'll
give
a
little
summary
of
what
I
heard
from
from
those
spaces
that
could
apply
to.
A
You
know
us
determining
whether
we
want
to
do
that.
So
that's
one
recommendation:
another
was
Consulting
with
local
immigration,
attorneys
about
the
certification
process
and
the
new
state
law
that
I
mentioned
earlier
to
see.
If,
if
there's
any
just
concerns
or
ideas
around,
you
know
how
this
could
be
potentially
helpful
for
the
clients
that
they
work
with
another
was
consulting
or
submitting
some
sort
of
letter
request
to
USCIS
again
the
U.S
customs
and
Immigration
Services
to
ultimately,
they
have
to.
A
We
are
putting
ourselves
out
there
as
a
certifying
agency
and
just
to
kind
of
give
USCIS
a
heads
up
so
that
if
they
ever
were
to
receive
a
certification
signed
by
the
Human
Rights
Commission
they're,
not
you
know
issuing
a
blanket
denial
because
they've
never
received
anything
from
us
and
so
potentially
Consulting
with
them
or
sending
them
some
sort
of
communications
as
another
Next
Step
developing
a
procedure
for
how
we
would
evaluate
those
requests.
Who
would
be
looking
at
them?
Who
would
be
making
that
determination
would
be
really
important.
A
You
know
and
deciding
whether
there's
the
capacity
to
do
that.
You
know
so.
That's
another.
You
know
potential
Next
Step
conducting
Outreach
to
to
Advocates
and
Community
organizations
who
are
working
on
behalf
of
immigrant
communities,
also
to
receive
feedback,
and
then
the
final
one
was
reviewing
the
the
ordinance,
the
Human
Rights
Commission
ordinance.
Just
to
assure
you
know,
compliance
with
like
the
Mandate
and
and
all
of
that,
so
those
were
the
the
the
background
and
potential
next
steps
and
then
I'll
just
the
last
thing.
A
I'll
do
is
just
report
on
the
conversations
with
Chicago
and
New
York.
Just
so
you
get
a
sense
of
what
other
cities
have
done
so
I
New
York
was
the
first
City
Human
Rights
Commission.
To
do
this
and
take
this
on
and
and
so
I.
You
know,
I
spoke
to
one
of
their
staff
in
their
office
and
they
they
have.
They
have
a
little
bit
of
a
different
mandate
than
necessarily
the
Boston
one,
because
some
of
these
other
commissions
have
both
an
arm
around
investigation
and
mediation,
and
things
like
that.
A
A
So
we
talked
a
little
bit
about
that
with
the
commissions,
with
the
two
commissions
that
I
mentioned.
Another
thing
that
came
up
was
that
they
haven't
they
haven't,
even
though
they're
you
know,
they're
big
cities
right,
New,
York
and
Chicago.
It's
not
like
they've
had
a
an
overwhelming
amount
of
folks,
submit
certification
requests
to
their
offices
and
I
think
a
large
part
of
that.
Yes,
some
of
it
could
be
because
maybe
just
the
word
hasn't
gotten
out
there
to
enough
people.
A
But
this
could
potentially
won't
be
one
additional
resource
for
some
folks
who
either
have
had,
for
example,
not
helpful
interactions
with
law
enforcement
and
they
feel
more
comfortable
approaching
a
Human,
Rights
Commission
or
because
you
know
they're
not
looking
necessary
to
prosecute.
They
just
want
some
sort
of
support
or
because
You
Know
It
just
fits
more
neatly
within
the
the
Mandate
of
the
commission
versus
going
to
you
know,
police,
and
so
you
know
there
is
an
an
opportunity
to
do
that,
and
so
Let
me.
A
B
C
A
I
mean
there's
probably
two
routes.
One
is
more
like
anecdotally,
right
speaking
with
immigration,
attorneys
and,
and
then
there's
more
formally
like
if
we
were
to
actually
put
out
some
sort
of
a
data
collection
survey
or
something
like
that.
So
that's
that's
possible
to
do.
You
know
it's
it's
very
well
possible
to
connect
with
the,
for
example,
there's
a
Statewide
immigration,
Legal
Services
Coalition,
that
is
a
coalition
of
the
legal
services
like
non-profit
providers
who
do
immigration,
representation
and
So
within
that
Coalition.
A
There's
a
specific
working
group
that
works
specifically
on
just
you
and
t
visa
issues.
So
you
know
that's
an
Avenue
where
either
a
more
formal
survey
or
data
collection
tool
can
be
used
or
just
more
informally.
You
know
reaching
out,
for
you
know
asking
what
is
the
need
or
inviting
folks
to
a
meeting.
Potentially
you
know
to
speak
on
that,
and
so
so
yeah
I've
I've
in
my
you
know,
work
communicated
with
some
of
those
attorneys
and
similar
to
what
I
heard
from
speaking
to
the
New
York
and
the
Chicago
offices.
A
Is
that
it's
not
that
there's?
This
overwhelming
need
for
the
Boston
Human
Rights
Commission,
because
it
wouldn't
be
a
large
caseload,
but
that
it
would
still
be
helpful
to
have
yet
another
tool,
because
sometimes
people
do
run
into
issues
of
getting
certifications.
I'll
give
an
example
which
maybe
wouldn't
apply
to
to
you
know
what
the
Mandate
would
be
for
the
Human
Rights
Commission,
but
just
an
example
of
an
issue
that
comes
up.
A
Often
we
hear
of
situations
in
which
an
immigrant
who
went
through
some
sort
of
harm
tries
to
go
to
an
agency
and
try
to
receive
a
certification
and
they're
unresponsive,
for
example.
Recently
that
happened
in
Plymouth
County,
Correctional
Facility,
where
they
they
had
not
created
a
policy
under
this
new
state
law,
and
so
somebody
an
immigrant.
They
try
to
seek
a
certification
and
it
was
blanketly
denied
without
any
sort
of
staying
without
any
sort
of
process.
A
And
so
you
know
they
were
kind
of
left
with
with
very
little
options
outside
of
that
I'm,
not
saying
that
in
that
particular
case
or
situation.
That
person
could
have
then
come
to
the
Boston
Human
Rights
Commission
I,
don't
know
the
the
facts
of
that
situation,
but
they
are
definitely
potentially
cases
in
which,
if
they're
having
issues
getting
a
certification
from
another
agency
or
just
doesn't
fit
within
those
mandates
that
they
could
come.
But
yeah
I
don't
know
the
numbers.
It's
a
good
question.
D
D
A
A
A
It's
just
a
staff
member
within
their
office,
so
it
doesn't
necessarily
have
to
be
a
legal
professional,
an
attorney
doing
that,
because,
again
Warren,
we
wouldn't
be
the
ones
making
the
ultimate
determination
there
would
be
basically
some
criteria
with
within
whatever
policy
we
create
to
say,
like
okay,
if
you
receive
a
certification
request
step,
one
is
going
to
be
to
you
know
just
review
it
step
two
is
going
to
be
okay.
What
was
the
you
know
crime?
A
Does
it
fit
within
this
list
of
qualifying
crimes
that
that
we
as
a
commission
can
even
look
at
you
know?
So
you
know
we'd
have
to
develop
some
sort
of
process
to
make
it
easier
for
somebody
to
be
reviewing
those
those
requests.
So
I
would
say.
Capacity
was
the
first
thing
that
came
up
for
me.
Just
in
thinking
that
you
know
it's
a
small
staff
in
the
Boston
Human
Rights
Commission.
A
This
would
be
something
new,
because
Massachusetts
also
has
that
law
around
creating
a
policy
that
that
would
have
to
happen
as
well,
whereas,
for
example,
I,
don't
necessarily
think
that
Chicago
and
New
York
have
the
same
type
of
law,
which
is
really
helpful.
Massachusetts,
because
you
know
now,
we
know
that
there's
policies
and
and
agencies
have
to
be
following
them,
but
obviously
that
that
would
be
some
work
on
our
end
to
develop
that
right.
So
yeah,
that's
the
things
that
come
to
mind.
Yeah
thank.
D
I'm,
so
sorry,
just
one
really
quick
other
one
you'd
mentioned.
Ultimately
it's
up
to
USCIS
to
determine
whether
or
not
it
gets
certified
and
I
wonder
is
I
mean.
Maybe
this
is
an
obvious
answer,
but
is
there
a
concern
about
bias
like
how
what
is
the?
How
do
they
make
those
determinations,
especially
after
someone
would
have
already
theoretically
aided
in
an
investigation
that
maybe
put
them
at
risk?
I
don't
know.
Is
that
a
concern
like.
D
A
A
What
they
require
is
that
if
somebody
is
coming
forward
to
the
commission
to
request
a
certified
Visa
certification,
they
actually
require
that
they
come
and
sometimes
they
help
them
connect
with
an
attorney
or
legal
services
organization
that
would
help
them
submit
their
request
so
that,
because
that
turned
that
immigration
attorney
in
this
case
would
have
a
better
sense
of
saying
to
the
client.
Actually
you
know
this
is
likely
to
be
denied.
You
don't
really
have
a
claim
here,
and
so
what
happens?
A
Is
that
it's
already
like
filtered
through
an
immigration
attorney
or
legal
services
organization
to
say
we
actually
already
took
a
look
at
this
here's
kind
of
the
facts.
This
is
why
we
think
it's
a
qualifying
crime
and
it
gives
less
work
to
the
commission
to
have
to
start
from
zero,
and
so
by
the
time
it
works
its
way
from
an
attorney
to
the
commission
to
USCIS.
There's
there's
been
some
sort
of
like
vetting
around
that
so
yeah
I,
don't
know
the
numbers
of
oh
I.
A
You
know
so
after
it
leaves
the
commission
it's
kind
of
like
we
don't
know
what
happens
you
know
unless
the
you
know,
we
have
some
sort
of
mechanism
with
the
person
who
submitted
it
or
with
the
legal
services
organizations
to
say
like
hey,
can
you
keep
us
posted,
or
you
know,
have
some
sort
of
process
there,
but
that's
not
what
the
two
commissions
that
I
spoke
to
do.
They
they
kind
of
just
leave
it
up
to
the
attorneys
at
that
point
and
the
clients,
yeah
cool.
C
Well,
you
know
I,
certainly
support
this
idea.
I
was
wondering
if
you
had
any
discussions
with
Mara
and
if
they've
had
experience
with
this,
and
if
just
if
we
were
to
go
this,
this
route
would
would
we
do
you
think
that
my
concern
is
capacity
and
also
qualifications
for
reviewing
these?
If
perchance,
there
would
be
any
immigration
law
lawyers
that
could
do
some.
You
know
pro
bono
work
with
the
Human
Rights
Commission
to
help
us.
You
know,
get
better
qualified
to
to
review
these
applications.
A
Yeah,
so
so
Mira
is
you
know,
for
those
who
don't
know
it's,
it's
a
coalition
that
that
includes
various
immigrant
rights
organizations
as
well,
and
they
themselves
don't
do
legal
representation.
So
they're,
you
know
they.
They
do
have
some
attorneys
on
staff,
but
they
they're
not
a
legal
services.
You
know
representation
organization,
but
there
are
several
out
there
like
Greater
Boston,
Legal,
Services,
Northeast
Justice.
You
know
the
Justice
Center
in
Brockton
like
there's
several
out
there,
and
so
no
I
haven't
specifically
discussed
it
with
them.
A
I,
but
I
have
had
discussions
with
some
of
the
attorneys
who
do
you
and
t
visa
representation
work?
So
yeah
we're.
You
know
we're
all
within
the
the
umbrella
of
doing
immigration
related
work,
but
but
yeah
I
haven't
spoke
directly
with
Mira,
because
they're
not
really
processing
these
sort
of
certifications
but
but
yeah
I
think
that's
a
good
idea
of
looking
into
a
potential
Partnership.
A
E
Okay,
I'm
gonna,
give
myself
permission
to
to
speak
now.
First,
thank
you
very
much
for
this
presentation.
It's
an
excellent
presentation,
like
my
colleagues
I,
am
in
a
complete
favor
of
moving
in
that
direction.
I
also
think
that,
given
the
previous
conversation
we
had,
this
is
an
area
that
we
can
decide.
That
is
an
area
of
a
special
interest
for
the
commission
and
therefore
we
could
start
forming
Partnerships
in
that
direction.
E
A
I
mean
that's
a
good
question,
I
mean
I,
think
I
think
deciding
at
the
very
least
I
would
say
if
there's
enough
interest
to
say,
let's
follow
with
some
other
the
next
steps
which
some
of
those
next
ones
without
getting
too
concrete
into
saying.
Like
yes,
we've
said:
yes
we're.
Let's
start
writing
the
policy,
for
this
is,
for
example,
check
in
with
a
couple
more
like
the
immigration
attorneys
who
do.
E
A
Yeah
I
would
I
would
put
forward
a
motion
for
the
next
step
for
determining
whether
we
want
to
become
a
certification
agency
would
be
to
have
follow-up
conversations
with
local
immigration
practitioners,
whether
that
be
through
conversations
or
whether
that
be
through
some
affordable,
formal
or
informal
data
collection
about
this
process.
What
their
feedback
is
on,
whether
this,
how
helpful
this
would
be
and
and
any
other
feedback
related
to.
A
E
C
E
A
E
E
You
very
much
thank
you,
Matt
very
much,
commissioner,
and
let's
move
to
the
last
part
of
our
meeting,
which
is
determining
the
format
of
the
remaining
2023
public
meetings.
We've
been
meeting
for
two
years
online
at
five
o'clock,
mostly
on
Thursdays,
but
things
have
changed
and
it
is
time
to
discuss
whether
we
are
going
to
move
into
face-to-face
meetings.
I'm
gonna
leave
this
discussion
open
to
you.
Please
anybody
permission,
commissioner
Russo
you
you
brought
this
up
several
times.
So
if
you
would
like
to
start
the
discussion.
C
Yes,
I
would
I
would
love
for
us
to
meet
in
person.
I
think
meetings
in
person
are
are
valuable
for
us
to
develop
relationships
with
each
other
and
and
lead
to
better
discussions.
I
also
would
like
us
to
consider
changing
the
meeting
time
from
five
o'clock.
I
think
in
order
to
have
you
know,
this
is
a
public
meeting
to
be
able
to
have
the
the
public
participate.
I.
Think
five
o'clock
is
a
very
hard
time
for
the
public
to
do
so.
E
Is
there
any
I
mean
agreement
completely
with
commissioner
Russo
I
think
we
should
meet
in
person.
I
think
we
all
should
meet
visit
communities
and
not
meet
always
in
a
in
a
closed
room
at
City
Hall,
but
also
schedule
some
meetings,
several
meetings
every
year
in
the
communities
in
different
communities
and
obviously
we
would.
It
would
require
a
special
coordination,
a
change
of
schedule
for
all
of
us,
but
we
can
schedule
things
easy,
I,
think
by
using
a.
D
D
I
wonder
how
we
can
use
it
as
an
opportunity
to
promote
the
meetings,
maybe
leverage
it
as
an
opportunity
to
build
momentum
if
we're
I
mean
I'm
offered
being
in
the
community
and
perhaps
through
some
of
the
relationships
that
we're
developing
that's
a
way
to
drum
up
some
interest
because
it
sounds
like
people
want
to
know
about
us,
but
yeah.
We
just
have
to
put
some
effort
into
getting
the
word
out.
A
E
A
For
some
people,
Zoom
has
you
know
online
has
been
more
helpful
and
then
for
others,
it's
been
the
reverse,
where
being
in
person
is
more
helpful
because
they
may
not
have
easy
access
to
Wi-Fi,
internet
Etc
and
so
I
think
we
may
want
to
consider
either
doing
a
mix
or
doing
both
or
yeah
figure
something
out
to
to
make
it
accessible
to
both
sides.
You
know.
E
How
can
we
do
this?
It
would
be
difficult
to
start
a
conversation
comparing
schedules
here,
but
maybe
the
executive
commission,
the
executive
director
and
I
can
send
you
an
email
ask
about
your
availability
in
the
next,
let's
say
a
few
months
until
December
and
come
out
with
a
possible
hybrid
schedule,
meaning
probably
mostly
in
person
with
some
with
some
online
there's.
This
there
needs
to
be
a
little
bit
of
predictability
too
for
the
public
to
understand
that
we
are
here.
E
E
E
I
don't
know
where,
but
it
would
be
in
person
and
the
a
schedule
of
meetings
will
be
prepared
in
in
the
next
few
weeks,
with
your
input
and
the
input
of
the
city
hall
as
well,
Okay,
so
Let's
decide
on.
Are
you
okay,
with
voting
on
having
the
next
meeting
in
in
person,
everybody
in
favor,
say:
I
mean
raise
your
hand
and
it
is
unanimously
approved,
and
so
from
from
now,
until
the
next
meeting,
you
will
be
receiving
some
surveys
about
time
schedules,
etc,
etc.