Cosecha’s plan was to meet in front of the Lawrence City Hall and from there, march through different streets of Lawrence, drawing the attention of citizens about the situation of those who lack documents, in this case, those residing in Lawrence. Due to the incessant rain, they decided to meet at the Lawrence Public Library.
Cosecha’s Movement is a non-violent movement that fights for permanent protection, dignity and respect for all immigrants. According to Cosecha, “in 2014, the PEW research center estimated that there were 210,000 ‘unauthorized’ immigrants living in Massachusetts, that is, undocumented persons.
For many years this large population of Massachusetts residents has been ignored and treated as second-class residents. The undocumented people in Massachusetts are denied access to obtain a state identification or license and at the same time they are criminalized for not having one in hand.
Undocumented immigrants would like to drive with a license, but for decades and even to this day, the state of Massachusetts has failed our community to create a way to obtain these licenses.
This not only affects parents who take the risk of driving to work and leaving children at school; It also affects young people in Massachusetts who worry daily about their parents being stopped by the police and asked to show identification.
Undocumented families deserve to live without fear and the youth of MA deserve to know that their families will not be separated. “
According to Sonia Terbullino, “those from Lawrence would join a march that began in Framingham on Friday, June 26. On Saturday, September 27, they would be in Walthan, on Sunday, July 28, in Somerville and on Monday, in front of the State House in Boston. What we ask is a license for everyone to handle without fear”, she said.
“Is necessary to ensure that these people’s rights are respected and giving them driver license to ensure security for themselves and their families. License now, documents tomorrow”, said Scot Sternberg, a member of Cosecha.
