Massachusetts Law Reform Institute (MLRI) stands in solidarity with our immigrant-serving partners and legal aid colleagues who are mobilizing to assist and support the Venezuelan asylum seekers who were sent to Martha’s Vineyard by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. MLRI and our partners will continue to support the work on the ground to care for these, and all immigrants and refugees, arriving in our Commonwealth.

The people of Venezuela are living under conditions that the United Nations has cited for significant, documented human rights violations: politically motivated killings, torture, disappearances, and many other abuses. In addition to rampant human rights abuses, the economic conditions in Venezuela are dire, with approximately 77% of the population living in extreme poverty.

It is disgraceful that people fleeing human rights abuses, political persecution, natural disasters, and extreme poverty are treated as pawns in a political game. That any elected official would knowingly create a humanitarian crisis for political gain is morally reprehensible.

Like previous generations of immigrants and refugees, these Venezuelan asylum seekers – as well as Central American and Haitian refugees in our communities – come to our country seeking safety and a better future for themselves and their families. They come to the United States seeking compassion and deserve to be met with dignity. Anything less is profoundly contrary to our stated American values.

We call upon the Commonwealth’s elected officials to ensure that all immigrants and refugees are treated with dignity and have access to shelter, food, and health care. The state should also ensure that existing community organizations are provided the resources, technical assistance, and flexibility they need to meet people’s most urgent needs.  This is not only the humane thing to do – it is a moral imperative for our Commonwealth and its leaders.