►
Description
On this episode of Commissioners Corner, Host, Lois Leonard and Yusufi Vali, the new Director of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Advancement, discuss the ways Boston is making immigrants feel welcome and safe in their city, regardless of their legal status.
A
Hi
and
welcome
to
commissioner's
corner
I'm,
your
host
Lois
Leonard
and
thanks
for
joining
us,
rarely
does
a
day
go
by
without
a
national
news
story
about
our
country's
immigrant
status.
Frustrations
and
fears
persist
often
due
to
a
lack
of
clear
information,
but
in
Boston
mayor
Walsh
created
the
office
for
immigrant
advancement,
and
today
we
want
to
get
the
word
out.
What
does
this
office
have
to
offer
some
of
our
city's
most
vulnerable?
The
new
director
of
this
office,
Yousefi
Valley,
joins
us
for
a
very
important
conversation.
A
Know
what
you're
doing
is
very
important.
You
have
a
small
office
staff,
so
the
time
spent
here
is
is
greatly
important
and
we
have
a
lot
to
talk
about,
but
before
we
do,
that
I
think
it's
helpful
to
understand
your
background.
You
were
an
immigrant
yourself.
Your
work
experience.
Your
school
experience
tell
us
a
little
bit
about
you.
Soofi
Valley,
yeah,.
B
Love
to
and
before
we
get
into
that
I
just
want
to
say
you
know.
I
am
I,
feel
very
privileged
and
honored
that
the
mayor
has
chosen
me
for
this
position
and
because
it
is
a
really
awesome
responsibility.
You
know.
29%
of
Boston
is
foreign
born,
which
pails
still
in
comparison
to
what
it
was
at
the
turn
of
the
century,
which
was
over
38%
Wow.
A
B
The
the
person
to
my
left
is
Catalina
Lopez
who's,
the
director
food
access,
the
person
in
my
right
as
Rufus
Fogg,
the
chief
of
our
office,
is
chief
Marnie,
Martinez
and
I
got
to
tell
you
really
good
people
committed
to
service
come
in
and
working
hard
and
I
hate
to
say
that.
But
you
know
there's
a
stereotype,
sometimes
of
government,
as
you
know,
folks
who
aren't
working,
but
that's
been
absolutely
the
opposite
of
my
experience.
B
A
A
B
B
A
B
Like
most
immigrant
families,
you
know
the
first
three
to
four
years
were
a
real
struggle
for
both
of
my
parents.
My
dad
was
44,
my
mom
was
40
and
the
only
thing
my
dad,
the
only
job
my
dad
could
find
on
that
time
was
temp
jobs,
so
going
door-to-door
distributing,
yellow
page
directives
which
I
used
to
do
with
him
or
construction
jobs.
B
And
got
to
see
how
they
had
a
challenge,
navigating
the
school
system
and
and
and
so
in
many
ways,
I'm
able
to
identify
with
our
immigrant
population.
At
the
same
time,
you
know
after
three
to
four
years
my
family
I
believe
we're
very
lucky
and
got
blessed.
My
father
got
hired
by
the
Missouri
Department
of
Natural
Resources,
steady
salary,
good
benefits.
B
We
moved
out
to
an
area
with
a
good
public
school
system
because
of
that
I
got
into
Princeton
was
able
to
go,
spend
a
year
and
a
fulbright
in
Syria
studied
for
two
years
in
London
and
then
after
that
worked
on
the
Obama
campaign
worked
as
a
community
organizer
for
the
great
vasa
interfaith
organization.
Here
in
Boston,
worked
on
affordable
housing
issues,
education
and
health
care
and
then
ran
the
largest
mosque
in
New
England
in
Roxbury.
A
B
English
wasn't
wasn't
too
good,
I
remember
the
first
week
I
was
in
in
in
America
in
Kansas
City.
You
know,
there's
all
these
tests
I
had
to
take
to
see
what
level
my
English
was
at,
and
then
there
was
this
wonderful
white,
only
white
old
lady
who
was
my
tutor
within
the
public
school
system
and
used
to
spend
you
know,
I
think
it
was
three
or
four
hours
a
week,
making
sure
that
my
pronunciation
was
good,
making
sure
that
you
know
I'm
kind
of
on
track
and
and
that's
what
we
want
for
our
folks.
B
You
know
here
are
kids
in
our
public
school
system,
I
mean
I.
Remember,
I
had
gotten
a
D
for
like
the
first
two
three
years
and
then
in
English
and
particular
I
think
vocab
I
was
terrible,
I
and
then,
but
then,
because
of
this
work
that
this
lady
did
with
me,
and
my
teachers
did
with
me,
you
know
by
high
school
I
was
getting
aids
in
English
and
was
kind
of
my
pathway
to
becoming
a
good
writer,
etc.
You.
A
B
So
Moya,
first
of
all,
is
a
department
within
the
Health
and
Human
Services
cabinet,
and
our
chief
is
chief
amarti,
Martinez
fabulous
person
who
worked
for
I
must
say
and
the
goal
the
offices
work
is
focused
on
two
areas.
All
right,
one
is
immigrant
advancement.
The
mayor
changed
the
name
of
this
office
when
he
came
into
power
from
office
of
new
Bostonians
to
immigrants,
Minh
and
the
reason
he
did.
B
This
is
because
he
wanted
a
particular
focus
on
ensuring
that
immigrants
advanced,
economically
civically
and
culturally,
exactly
and
so
a
junk
of
our
work
is
really
focused
on
that
piece
and
I'll
talk
about
one
really
exciting
program
called
citizenship
day
in
a
second
and-
and
my
hope
is
that
we
spend
more
and
more
time
on
this
part
of
our
work.
Having
said
that,
we
got
a
new
president
in
2016,
where
the
rhetoric
and
policies
have
really
targeted
our
immigrants.
B
So,
as
a
result,
a
lot
of
the
work
of
the
office
has
had
to
focus
on
ensuring
the
safety
and
security
and
protection
of
our
immigrants
here
in
Boston,
and
so
this
mayor
launched
the
Greater
Boston
immigrant
legal
defense
fund,
a
million
dollar
fund
which
we're
going
to
put
50
thousand
dollars
in
this
year
as
a
city
to
ensure
that
our
immigrants
get
good
legal
representation
against
the
policies
that
are
coming
down.
No.
A
B
Focus
a
lot
on
civic
economic
and
cultural
integration
of
our
immigrants.
I'll
just
give
you
a
couple
examples
of
that.
One
of
the
ideas
we've
talked
about
is
potentially
putting
a
10-week
course
for
immigrant
leaders
where
they
get
to
learn
about
how
the
city
works,
how
the
budgeting
process
works
and
get
to
meet
with
different
folks
within
the
city,
I.
B
And
and
that's
about
civic
integration
right
there
is-
the
mayor
had
been
advocating
for
to
to
put
a
commission
together
for
a
commission
that
begins
to
research,
how
people
that
come
to
this
country
with
already
a
medical
background?
How
do
they
get
certification
much
quicker
so
that
they
can
enter
our
healthcare
industry
because
we
know
there's
a
scarcity
of
labor
in.
A
B
Industry,
the
good
news
is
the
mayor's
advocacy
paid
off
and
now
the
governor
in
his
last
budget,
put
money
for
commission
towards
this.
And
so
how
do
we
as
a
city,
participate
in
in
that?
And
how
do
we
get
more
immigrants
into
the
labor
force?
That's
economic
integration
right
so
that
those
are
the
kind
of
pieces
that
I
really
want
to
focus
on,
while
at
the
same
time,
playing
defense,
which
we
have.
A
B
It's
it's
a
fabulous
day.
The
mayor
is
always
very
excited
about
it,
as
is
our
whole
office.
It's
a
day
when
400
to
500
people
start
their
application
process,
and
this
is
gonna
take
place.
Saturday
September,
28th
I
highly
recommend
this
year
that,
if
you
are
eligible
for
for
applying
for
your
citizenship,
meaning
you've
been
on
your
green
card.
I've
been
here
for
at
least
five
years.
Please
take
the
a--take
advantage
of
this
opportunity.
Now.
Why
number
one
it's
going
to
be
a
very
easy,
simple
process.
B
We
have
lawyers
present
people
of
very
different
backgrounds,
they're
translators
for
you,
so
you're
not
gonna
need
to
pay
a
lawyer
or
anything
like
that,
and
we
partnered
with
this
fabulous
organization
called
project
citizenship
for
it.
So
that's
number
one.
The
second
reason
is
the
government
has
a
program.
A
fee
waiver
program
so
usually
costs
seven
hundred
twenty-five
dollars
to
apply
for
this,
but
immigrants
can
qualify
for
a
fee
waiver
if
they,
if
their
income
is
underneath
a
certain
level,
and
it's
very.
A
B
Prove
now
the
Trump
administration
has
announced
that
it
wants
to
make
changes
to
the
fee
waiver
program,
but
none
of
that
is
in
effect
at
this
point,
so
the
process
is
easy
right
now
take
advantage
of
it.
And
lastly,
if
you
do
it
now,
it
takes
anywhere
between
8
to
10
months
to
get
your
citizenship.
You're
gonna
be
able
to
vote,
and
so
that's.
B
The
presidential
elections,
and
so
we're
encouraging
everyone
to
that
is
eligible.
Please
get
in
there
easy
process
do
this
now.
The
important
thing
is
you
do
need
to
register
and
what
you
want
to
do
is
just
google
and
project
citizenship
and
there's
a
number
that
you
can
call
I.
Think
I
have
it
here
somewhere,
I'll.
A
B
B
A
B
The
reality
is
that
that,
at
least
among
some
pockets
of
our
immigrant
community
and
in
Boston
diamond
community
is
extremely
diverse,
as
you
know,
but
within
some
pockets,
but
he
particularly
the
Latino
community,
there's
fear
and
I
think.
What
would
we
all
need
to
understand
is
that,
unfortunately,
this
president
is
a
master
of
fear
and
that's
what
that's?
How
he's
moving
on
his
agenda
and
and
what
I
want
to
really
point
out
here
for
all
of
us
as
Bostonians
frankly,
is
that
this
is
bad
for
our
country.
B
You
know,
if
you
have
ever
worked
in
a
workplace
which
I'm
sure
many
of
us
have
where
the
leadership
style
is
of
fear.
What
happens?
People
get
divided
a
lot
of
times
wasted
on
infighting,
it's
all
about
loyalty
and
it's
not
about
the
products
and
services
that
you're
trying
to
deliver
for
people
our
way
and
moving
forward
now.
B
A
B
B
Figure
this
out
and
that's
that's
the
leadership
style
we
need,
and
so
you
know
we
can't
control
what's
happening
nationally,
but
we
can
control
our
city
and
we're
gonna
continue
and
in
my
office
we're
gonna
continue
working
with
different
people
of
different
backgrounds
having
each
other's
back
and
really
staying
focused
on
the
services
and
be
hopefully
a
model
for
the
rest
of
the
nation.
Well,.
A
B
First
of
all,
I
think
it's
really
important
to
recognize
that
there
are
immigrants
that
are
such
a
part
of
the
city
and
so
without
a
doubt,
I'm
sure
you
have
an
immigrant
neighbor
immigrant
coworker,
get
to
know
them
build
that
relationship.
I
mean
honestly,
that's
important.
Whether
a
person
is
immigrant
or
not
it's
important
for
us
as
a
community
and
a
city
get
to
know
their
story,
and
what
you
will
realize
is
that,
just
like
you,
you
and
me
they're,
hardworking
folks,
who
are
committed
to
well-being
for
their
family.
B
One
opportunity,
which
is
what
America
is
all
about
right,
so
first
get
to
know
them.
Secondly,
if
in
any
way
they're
feeling
vulnerable,
you
know
be
there
for
them.
If
you
see
something
happening
to
them,
don't
be
a
bystander,
be
willing
to
speak
up
and
defend
your
neighbor,
your
coworker
right
and
then
the
last
thing
I'll
just
say
is
that
that
particularly
our
most
vulnerable
immigrants
are
undocumented
immigrants
right
and
many
of
them
are
not
necessarily
share
that
with
you.
B
A
B
A
B
B
You
know
that
that
are
immigrants
from
from
this
country
right
now,
because
legitimately
we
were
all
thinking
about
the
braids,
also
certain
residents
when
they
saw
certain
certain
things
happening
in
the
city
that
looked
like
federal
agents,
ended
up
putting
on
social
media
and
reporting
that
there's
ice
activity.
In
one
case,
for
instance,
it
was
just
the
security
apparatus
for
the
Social
Security
Administration
building
that
was
understood
to
be
ice
and
this
got
posted
and
it
got
shared
500
times.
You
know
on
Facebook,
yeah
Facebook.
B
So
what
we
very
quickly
realized
in
my
office
was
that
look.
We
need
a
response
plan
to
fight
this
fear,
because
the
reality
is
the
presents.
Gonna
continue
to
go
off,
particularly
as
the
election
season
comes
around
because
you
know
what
he
does
is
every
time
he
gets
challenged
on
something
substantive.
He
distracts
by
moving
to
the
immigration
issue,
and
so
what
we've
done
is
this
response
plan,
which
has
three
steps
to
it.
Number
one
is
to
verify
whether
what
the
president
is
saying
is
true
or
not
and/or.
B
B
B
At
that
point,
of
course,
we're
gonna
take
the
appropriate
actions,
sometimes
I'll,
be
just
making
sure
that
the
mayor
and
the
Commissioner
are
meeting
with
those
communities
and
assuring
them
that
look
we're
not
necessarily
gonna,
be
cooperating
with
these
pieces
or
other
times.
It's
just
going
to
be
articulating
our
values
as
a
city
which
is
we
are,
we
want
to
make
sure
all
residents
feel
safe
and
secure,
particularly
our
immigrants
that
they're
welcome
in
the
city
and
that
we
want
to
see
them
thrive
in
the
city.
Well,.
A
B
A
B
A
B
B
B
B
Yes,
exactly
in
our
Boston
Police
Department,
so
we
created
something
called
a
trust
stack,
which
is
fundamentally
meant
to
clarify
for
our
local.
For
for
folks
that
are
local
law
enforcement
and
put
it
as
a
city
ordinance
that
our
local
law
enforcement
swirl
is
only
to
to
enforce
state
and
city
laws
and
not
be
used
as
an
arm
for
federal.
B
Exactly,
and
so
specifically,
what
that
means
louis
is
that
you
know
when,
when
Boston
PD,
you
know
arrest
someone
or
whatever
it
may
be,
if
some
minor
issue
et
cetera,
that,
if
ice
requests,
BPD
to
detain
people
and
hold
them
for
until
I
shows
up,
we
will
not
do
that
as
Boston
Police
Department.
Unless,
unless
there's
a
criminal
warrant,
that's
approved
by
a
judge
which
is
very
rare.
That's.
B
A
different
situation
exactly
now
the
reason
we're
amending
the
trust
Act
at
this
point
isn't
because
things
continue
to
change
in
DC
and
new
policies
keep
on
coming
down
and
again,
we
want
to
ensure
that
people
have
complete
trust
in
our
PD
that
they're
just
going
to
be
focused
on
safety
and
security
of
our
city,
and
so,
as
a
result,
the
mayor
and
councillors
they
come
have
proposer
and
amendments
that
we're
hopeful
that
the
City
Council
is
going
to
pass
very
soon.
So.
B
We
have
a
phenomenal
program
here
in
in
my
office,
where
the
first
Wednesday
of
every
month
and
the
third
Wednesday
of
every
month
we
offer
one-time
15-minute
pro
bono
consultation
with
a
lawyer
12:00
to
2:00
p.m.
please
make
use
of
that.
If
you
are
in
a
vulnerable
situation
in
any
kind
of
way,
and
and
what
I
we
we
always
advise,
people
to
do
is
be
prepared
for
a
situation
before
it
comes.
B
And
then
the
last
thing
I'll
just
say
is
that
we
partner
with
a
number
of
agencies
for
anuria
rights
trainings
and
come
to
these
trainings
of
the
Irish
immigration
center,
that
pear
project
and
you
can
find
all
of
this
on
boston,
gov,
slash,
immigrants
and,
and
please
take
advantage
of
those
resources.
Staying.
A
With
the
topic
of
deportation,
you
know
in
the
previous
administration
there
are
a
hundreds
of
thousands
of
people
who
were
deported,
but
never
did
we
hear
the
public
outcry
of
outrage,
then
that
we
are
hearing
today.
So
what
has
changed?
What
is
different
today?
Why
are
people
so
emotional
today
about
this
yeah?
What's
different?
Well,.
B
B
B
Exactly
and
and-
and
he
has
unfortunately
because
of
his
rhetoric,
but
in
some
ways
fortunately
really
allow
people
to
see
how
the
system
was
was
running
and
the
reality
is
look.
Our
immigration
system
needs
a
lot
of
updating
a
lot
of
updating
and,
as
the
mayor
has
continually
said,
people
need
to
work
together
in
DC
to
figure
out
our
immigration
system,
because
otherwise,
there's
always
downstream
consequences
on
cities
and
agencies
are
not
working
well
because
of
that
as
well,
and
so
so
that's
what's
happening
here.
Okay,.
A
B
And
in
the
like,
in
the
1900s,
it
was
used
actually
the
target,
Irish,
Catholic
immigrants
and
then
later
on,
Chinese
were
targeted
by
it.
Now
in
1999
there
was
more
specificity
around
it.
So,
basically,
what
was
made
clear
was
that
that
an
immigration
officer
could
only
apply
public
charge
if
the
person
who
was
in
the
country
had
been
receiving
some
kind
of
cash
assistance
or
was
gonna
need
long-term
institutionalized
care
right
and
on
that
basis,
that
could
deny
so
we
got
clear
and
public
charge
was
not
being
used
much
in
the
last
ten
years.
B
What
the
Trump
administration
wants
to
do
is
expand
those
criteria
for
it.
So
if
you
get
food
stamps,
Medicaid
or
housing,
then
that
could
be
used
as
evidence
to
deny
you
and
essentially
what
we're
gonna
start
seeing
is
because
the
discretion
is
also
going
to
become
for
immigration.
Officers
broader.
Is
that
what
we're
gonna
end
up
seeing
is
that
a
lot
of
folks,
particularly
from
Asian
African
countries,
are
gonna
start
to
be
denied
because
biases
do
get
in
and
most
of
our
immigration
officers
come
from
a
particular
background.
B
B
They
could
be
tonight
right
and
so
now,
what
you're
gonna
start
to
see
is
family
separation
here
in
the
city
of
Boston
parents
being
taken
away
the
same
kind
of
stuff
that
you
saw
see
in
the
border
and
in
the
you're
gonna
see
that
I
really
hope
that
weighs
on
all
of
our
conscience.
So
that's
number
one.
B
The
BPD
AAA
actually
did
a
study
on
this
and
found
that
they
did
an
impact
analysis
on
this.
So
what
that's
gonna
mean
for
you
and
me
is
that
we're
gonna
pay
more
for
our
landscaper
we're
gonna
pay
more
for
when
we
need
a
plumber
or
electrician,
we're
gonna
pay
more
for
our
food,
and
so
and
that's
why,
as
soon
as
public
charge
came
out,
the
mayor
was
very
vocal
about
it.
B
We
submitted
a
public
comment
to
it
with
our
impact
analysis
that
the
BPD
a
did,
and
he
called
for
an
impact
analysis
here
in
Boston,
which
we
presented
to
the
federal
government
and
more
recently,
given
the
news
last
week,
we've
also
my.
He
also
commissioned
our
office
to
ask
for
a
meeting
with
the
the
budget
of
office
and
management
to
explain
the
problematic
effects
of
all
of
this.
Well.
A
B
A
B
Know
anywhere
ages,
one
two
three
four
nine
like
myself,
and
these
kids
are
as
American
as
apple
pie,
right
and
so
what
what
President
Obama
did
was
because
there
was
an
immigration
reform
was
created,
did
an
executive
order
created
this
temporary
program
so
that
kids
could
go
to
college.
Our
kids
could
work.
B
Unfortunately,
the
president
has
now
made
it
such
that
there
can
be
no
new
applications
for
daca.
However,
if
you
currently
are
on
daca,
you
are
able
to
renew
your
application.
So
that's
daca
TPS
is
temporary,
protected
status.
Imagine
you're
a
person
that
comes
to
this
country
and
back
home,
a
disaster
happens
like
Haiti
or
major
political
crisis,
with
political
violence
like
in
Syria
right
at
that
point,
you
can
get
something
called
temporary
protective
status
until
things
become
better
in
that
country.
B
It's
a
you're
such
a
part
of
community
life
right
exactly
so,
which
was
the
case,
for
instance,
with
my
parents
right
that
that,
even
if
my
parents
wanted
ever
to
go
back
to
India,
there's
no
way
they
could
because
they
become
so
American
and
who
they
are
and
they
believe
in
freedom,
equality
and
the
American
Dream
right,
and
so
so,
but
again
the
Trump
administration
has
focused
on
expiring
this
program.
Much
of
this
program
for
many
different
countries
is
meant
to
expire
in
January
2020.
B
Now
there
are
again
lawsuits
going
on
and
which
could
delay
all
of
this,
but
but
he's
bringing
an
end
to
that
again.
The
important
point
here
is:
we
really
need
our
our
elected
officials
to
work
together
at
the
national
level
to
create
immigration
reform
and
and
if
they're
not
gonna,
do
that
here
in
the
city.
We're
gonna
work
together
and
here
in
the
state,
we're
gonna
work
together
with
a
Republican
governor
and
do
things
the
right
way
and
stay
focused
on
our
mission.
Well,.
B
A
B
A
A
B
The
nation,
as
we
tend
to
be
and
New
York,
has
one
and
now
a
number
of
different
cities
have
followed
suit
with
us
and
and
actually
we
collaborate
significantly
with
these
different
cities
as
we're
trying
to
deal
with
public
charge,
as
we
were,
trying
to
deal
with
daca
TPS
and,
in
fact,
the
meaning
that
we
are
requesting
with
the
Office
of
Management
budget,
we're
hoping
to
do
that
with
a
number
of
different
cities,
including
San,
Francisco,
etc.
Well,.
A
B
Any
City
programs,
for
instance,
like
summer,
eats,
which
is
this
fabulous
program
for
any
kids
that
are
under
18.
They
can
get
free
meals
during
the
summer
and
right.
Actually,
if
you
come
at
City
Hall,
you
can
get
free
meals
right
outside
of
City
Hall
in
that
Cortright
area.
So
yeah
people
should
feel
extremely
comfortable
with
that.
Any
food
program
that
there
that
the
city
offers
and
frankly
the
state
offers
should
be
fine
and
we
have
a
phenomenal
food
access
apartment
director,
catalina
lopez,
Ospina
r,
is
the
one.
B
A
B
A
And
thank
you.
Our
viewers
for
watching
the
office
for
immigrant
advancement
concentrates
on
people
one
individual.
At
a
time.
It
could
be
your
neighbor,
a
relative,
a
friend,
a
co-worker,
and
we
all
need
to
work
together
to
get
the
word
out.
The
best
accurate
information
possible
their
website,
boston,
gov,
slash
immigrant,
is
extremely
helpful
and,
as
always,
our
message
here
is
to
be
informed
and
to
get
involved.
So
join
us
next
time
on
commissioners
corner.