BOSTON/State House - In the face of continued conservative resistance to immigration reform proposals nationwide, over 100 undocumented immigrant students and allies attended the Wednesday January 27th hearing of the Mass. legislature's Joint Committee on Higher Education in State House Hearing Room B-2 in support of "An Act Relative to Equal Access to Higher Education and Generating Revenue for the Commonwealth" (S. 603/H. 1175). The bill would allow undocumented immigrant students who attended at least 3 years of high school in the Commonwealth to pay for tuition and fees at public colleges at the in-state rate. Currently, undocumented students are allowed to attend Mass. public colleges, but are required to pay the much-higher out-of-state tuition and fee rate - which advocates say effectively bars most of the students from attending college at all, given that most of them are from poor families.

BOSTON/Faneuil Hall – Proclaiming that “now is the time for citizenship,” representatives of the Boston-based Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) and its member organizations held a rally and press conference Thursday near the Samuel Adams statue outside Faneuil Hall to announce stepped up efforts to make U.S. citizenship a reality for many more immigrants living in Massachusetts.

MIRA Coalition Executive Director Eva Millona said “never in our lifetime has it been more important as this time to become a U.S. citizen.” Coalition members anticipate a long and contentious debate in Washington over federal immigration policy to begin soon after Congress and the Obama administration come to grips with health care financing reform.

BOSTON/Dorchester - The outer walls of the Suffolk County House of Correction at South Bay rang with chants last Sunday as a group of 60 immigrant advocates marched and rallied in protest of the local prison's policy of accepting federal money to house unauthorized migrants after their arrest in raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The event was organized by the new Resist the Raids network and was endorsed by over 15 immigrant, labor and community organizations across Massachusetts.

BOSTON/East Boston - Over 500 people from 2 dozen immigrant, labor and religious organizations marched through wind and rain to demand more rights for immigrants and better labor conditions for all in the United States on the traditional May 1st workers holiday today. The group processed from Central Square in East Boston past Chelsea City Hall to Glendale Park in Everett - meeting groups of supporters along the way. Thousands of residents of the predominantly immigrant neighborhoods smiled, cheered, or stared in surprise as the marchers passed them by on the 3 mile march route. Some - apparently native born Americans - alternately jeered or made supportive comments, depending on their point of view.

The event was organized by the May 1st Coalition and - after almost a decade of similar annual events - is gradually becoming a Boston tradition.

BOSTON/Beacon Hill - Seeking "more just and humane immigration polices," over a dozen children of new immigrant families joined with 30 representatives of immigrant and faith-based community organizations on Tuesday under the banner of the pro-immigrant coalition Welcoming Massachusetts to present specially-prepared giant postcards asking for support for their cause from Gov. Deval Patrick (D - Massachusetts) and President-Elect Barack Obama (D).

New Bedford, MA - The federal government and lawyers working with hundreds of undocumented workers, many of whom have been deported to their native countries in Central America, reached a financial settlement in a class action lawsuit this week with the former owner of a factory in New Bedford.

BOSTON/Government Center - A coalition of over 30 religious and community organizations held a rally Tuesday calling for an end to raids, mass arrests and deportation of thousands of undocumented immigrants around the nation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. About 250 people participated in the event - which was coordinated by members of the Arlington Street Church Unitarian Universalist.

BOSTON/Government Center - Over 150 advocates from immigrants rights organizations, unions, religious groups and allies held a rally at City Hall Plaza on Wednesday to demand fair immigration policies and denounce the ongoing raids against immigrant communities by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

SOMERVILLE, Mass. - For the past four days, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in coordination with local police have raided numerous homes statewide - many in the middle of the night - and arrested over 80 immigrants (an unknown number of whom are undocumented) in what has appears to be an accelerating government campaign against so-called "illegal aliens" nationwide.

BOSTON/Beacon Hill - On Tuesday, Centro Presente of Somerville, the Center to Support Immigrant Organizing of Boston, Organization Maya K'iche of New Bedford and several other immigrant, community and religious organizations held a press conference on the State House steps to announce the start of a "Walk in Solidarity with the Undocumented" from Boston to New Bedford by Maine-based photojournalist Jim Harney.