GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. And happy Monday. Hope you’ve found a way to beat the heat.
ON THIN ICE — Fiery immigration protests on Saturday showed Bostonians are in a far different place than they were a few months ago, when gun reform advocates flooded the streets for the March for Our Lives.
The crowd who protested immigration policy this weekend at different venues was smaller than the group of more than 50,000 who marched for gun reform in the spring, but this time there were arrests.
Twenty people were put in cuffs on Saturday for protesting on the steps of a facility which detains undocumented immigrants. More than 100 people turned out for that protest at the South Bay House of Correction.
A larger protest in a different part of the city on Saturday drew between 5,000 and 15,000 people, depending on whether you ask police or march organizers. No one was arrested at that protest, which spanned from City Hall Plaza to Boston Common.
Boston wasn’t alone. Protesters across the country railed against the Trump administration’s controversial, since-halted immigration policy that resulted in the separation of migrant kids from their families.
Many looked beyond the separation policy and called for the dissolution of the agency which detains illegal immigrants: Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who joined a growing group of Democratic lawmakers calling for ICE to either be reviewed or scrapped completely.
“We need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom starting by replacing ICE with something that reflects our morality,” Warren said from the back of a pickup truck at City Hall Plaza. Rep. Joe Kennedy and Sen. Ed Markey also attended, but didn’t go so far as to call for the abolition of the agency.
But getting rid of ICE, or at least changing it, is an idea that’s gaining momentum. A cohort of 2020 candidates are embracing the concept, even as Republicans paint the party as too soft on immigration. The president repeatedly says, and tweets, Democrats want “open borders,” but so far, that hasn’t deterred liberals from embracing what used to be a far-left proposal.
Even some ICE agents are warming up to the idea. Nineteen special agents signed a letter calling for a realignment of the organization’s mission.
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TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker talks Fourth of July safety and logistics for the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart. The Cannabis Control Commission meets and could issue the state’s first recreational marijuana retail license. Rep. Michael Capuano calls for protection of “clean car standards” with environmental groups. State Sen. President Harriette Chandler delivers remarks at the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra Independence Holiday Concert.
TSONGAS ARENA —
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “One-Third of Democratic Town and City Committee Chairs in CD3 Endorse L’Italien for Congress,” from the L’Italien campaign: “Chairs of local Democratic town and city committees from twelve different communities, one-third of the 3rd Congressional District, announced their strong support for State Senator Barbara L’Italien today in the open race for Congress. The chairs supporting L’Italien also announced a district-wide day of action this Saturday, July 7, where they will help organize and launch canvasses in their respective communities. … While other candidates in the race have touted scattered endorsements from Democratic chairs, this show of support from so many of the district’s local leaders demonstrates L’Italien’s momentum as she expands her base district-wide.”
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 534 endorses Dan Koh for Congress,” from the Koh campaign: “Today, Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 534 endorsed Dan Koh in the Third District Congressional race. Local 534 represents around 400 workers throughout New England and is the nineteenth union endorsement that Koh has received, more than any other candidate. … ‘Right now, the organized labor movement is under attack,” said Koh. “In the wake of the disastrous Janus decision, we all need to reaffirm our commitment to union members and working families. In Congress, I will stand up for workers’ rights and fight everyday for an economy where everyone can get ahead.’”
THE WARREN REPORT —
– “Sen. Elizabeth Warren describes DHS border facilities: ‘cage after cage after cage,’” by Jen Kirby, Vox: “She saw men and women packed into cages — “cage after cage after cage,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wrote of her visit to a Border Patrol processing center in McAllen, Texas. Warren recounted, in visceral detail, her June 24 visit to the processing center in McAllen and a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “family reunification and removal center” located in southern Texas in a pointed letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar.”
DATELINE BEACON HILL —
– “It’s July 1, and no marijuana stores are ready to open in Massachusetts,” by Shira Schoenberg, MassLive.com: “For months, July 1 has been floated as the day the first legal marijuana stores could open in Massachusetts. Now July 1 is here. But no marijuana stores will be open, and there is no forecasted date for when they will be.”
– “Weed May Be Legal in Massachusetts, But Dealers Aren’t Done Yet,” by Nance Eve Cohen, New England Public Radio: “A day that many people have long pushed for in Massachusetts finally arrived. If you’re over 21 it’s legal, now, to buy marijuana in a store licensed by the state. But the illegal market isn’t expected to go away anytime soon.”
– ‘”Grand bargain” keeps voters from deciding ballot questions,” by The Associated Press: “On Beacon Hill, they call it the “grand bargain” — the new law that will gradually increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, require paid family and medical leave for workers and mandate a sales tax holiday every August. It’s also the mother of political deals involving the Republican governor, the Democratic leaders of the Massachusetts House and Senate and representatives of labor unions and business groups.”
– “Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker calls State Police overtime scandal a ‘conspiracy,’” by Gintautas Dumcius, MassLive.com: “The State Police overtime abuse scandal, involving dozens of troopers, was a “conspiracy,” according to Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker. Baker made the remark Friday, days after three current and former troopers were arrested on federal embezzlement charges, the Boston Globe reports.”
– “New fiscal year starts without state budget in place,” by The Associated Press: “House and Senate negotiators meeting behind closed doors have yet to resolve all the differences between spending plans for the next 12 months that were approved by the two chambers. It’s not an unusual occurrence for the July 1 fiscal year to start without a permanent budget. As they have in the past, lawmakers have approved a stopgap budget to keep state government operating.”
DATELINE DC —
– “Ed Markey heads to border to protest immigration policies,” by The Associated Press: “US Senator Edward Markey is joining a growing list of members of Massachusetts’s all-Democratic congressional delegation to head to the country’s southern border. Markey planned to visit detention and processing facilities in Port Isabel, McAllen, and Brownsville, Texas, over the weekend.”
ON THE STUMP —
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Beth Lindstrom Criticizes Warren’s ‘Abolish ICE’ Stance” from the Lindstrom campaign: “The challenge of ending illegal immigration is not going to be solved by abolishing the law enforcement agency responsible for securing the border, as Senator Warren now proposes. That is a prescription for total chaos. Laws need to be enforced. By proposing to abolish ICE, Senator Warren has once again exposed herself as an extremist, out of step and out of touch with reality.”
– “Plethora of candidates raises questions for voters,” by Richie Davis, Greenfield Recorder: “With eight Democrats vying to fill the 1st Franklin District House seat being vacated by Rep. Stephen Kulik and six Democrats running — five of them write-ins, no less — for the Hampshire-Franklin-Hampden Senate seat vacated by Sen. Stan Rosenberg, sorting through where they all stand and who should get your vote can be tricky. Voter Choice Massachusetts, which launched in January, is trying to spread the word about the advantages of ranked-choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, which they hope to place as a ballot question in 2020 — the same election when the victors in September’s Senate and House primaries will likely be seeking re-election.”
MOULTON MATTERS —
– “As Democrats Look Left, A Massachusetts Congressman Doubles Down On Biography,” by Daniel Marans, Huffington Post: “A day after a populist challenger knocked off one of the most powerful Democrats in the country, in part for taking too much corporate campaign cash, Rep. Seth Moulton, a moderate liberal who has raised money from Bain Capital in his capacity as a would-be Democratic Party kingmaker, convened reporters on Wednesday in a conference room just outside Capitol Hill for an announcement. Moulton, 39, styles himself a New Democrat, but given where the energies in his party lie at the moment, he sounded very much like the old guard.”
– “Dem Rep. Seth Moulton: Democratic Party Is ‘Literally in the Worst Position’ Since 1920s,” by Caleb Ecarma, Mediaite: “While appearing on CNN on Friday night, Democrat Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said the Democratic Party is ‘literally in the worst position as a party since the the 1920s.’ Moulton made the following remarks while discussing ‘the soul of the Democratic group’ with Prime Time host Chris Cuomo …”
THE KENNEDY COMPOUND —
– “Joe Kennedy III on the ‘worst mistake’ Democrats could make,” by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: “Rep. Joe Kennedy III says he isn’t looking ahead to 2020, and neither should his fellow Democrats. ‘I don’t share the same anxiety at this point that there’s no clear front runner for the Democratic nomination,’ Kennedy said in a wide-ranging interview published Friday by Nantucket Magazine. The Massachusetts Democrat said his party should be more focused on rebuilding their ‘credibility’ with working-class voters, rather than prematurely appointing a preferred candidate to take on President Donald Trump.”
WOOD WAR — Herald: “BRUTAL TOLL” — Globe: “Evictions halted, uncertainty remains,” “Charged troopers set to get pensions,” “Congressional internships are in demand,” “Land dispute could delay new MBTA Red Line cars,” “I asked Amazon for a fashion statement.”
THE LOCAL ANGLE —
– “Mass. recreational marijuana sales could generate $219M in taxes in first two years,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal: “The state is expecting recreational marijuana sales to generate $216 million in revenue for the state and up to $3 million for local municipalities in the first two years alone, a figure slightly behind earlier projections.”
– “Local Reporter’s Career Nosedives after Sardonic Tweet Stalls out…,” by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: “Thursday afternoon, as details about the rampage at Capital Gazette Communications were emerging, [Springfield Republican reporter Conor Berry] tweeted the shooter had dropped a red “Make America Great Again” hat. He included a photo of the headgear. A backlash—on Twitter, obviously—ensued, the tweet came down and by Friday morning Berry had resigned.”
– “Lawrence Bacow promises a more outward-looking Harvard,” by Deirdre Fernandes and Laura Krantz, Boston Globe: “Lawrence Bacow has a new vision for Harvard University and it will take him all the way to . . . Michigan. Bacow, who becomes the Ivy League institution’s 29th president this month, is out to shed Harvard’s image as a Northeast enclave for the country’s elite, in the age of President Trump’s muscular populism. In a bid to win over middle America, Bacow is venturing into Trump country and plans to visit Pontiac, Mich., a once-thriving automobile city that has fallen on hard times.”
– “As State Police overtime probe intensifies, troopers race to lock in pensions and retire,” by Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: “Three Massachusetts State Police troopers received an unwelcome surprise last Wednesday morning, when FBI officials showed up on their doorsteps to arrest them on federal embezzlement charges. But two of those troopers can expect a much more pleasant sight any day now: state pension checks.”
– “Bill Evans, Marty Walsh deny BPD commissioner set to resign,” by Dan Atkinson and Antonio Planas: “An exasperated police Commissioner William B. Evans denied that he’s leaving his post as rumors about him departing to Boston College dogged the city’s top cop on the eve of one of the most violent times of the year. Community leaders said the confusion about Boston Police Department leadership doesn’t help as neighborhoods gear up for a weekend before Fourth of July likely to see shootings in the city’s neighborhoods.”
– “Judges under fire on SouthCoast,” by Curt Brown, SouthCoast Today: “Bail has become a hot-button issue on SouthCoast. Deserved or not, judges are under fire for their bail practices.The criticism is not just surfacing on social media sites, either. New Bedford Police Chief Joseph C. Cordeiro has taken the lead and New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell has long complained about some judges.”
– “Rare copy of Declaration of Independence on display July 4,” by The Associated Press: “One of 14 original copies of the Declaration of Independence will again be on public display for the 4th of July in Boston. The rare document can be viewed between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday at the Massachusetts Archives and Commonwealth Museum at Columbia Point.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Melwood Global’s David Guarino
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? No! The Red Sox lost to the Yankees 11-1.
DO NOT MISS THIS — THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE HORSE RACE: State Senate President Harriette Chandler joins us for a special extended edition of The Horse Race. We ask her about the Grand Bargain, legislation vs. ballot questions, the fallout from Stan Rosenberg, and what she has learned in her time at the top. Then WBUR’s Shannon Dooling discusses what the immigration debate means for Massachusetts. Plus, what the NY-14 result means for the Pressley-Capuano matchup. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud
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