Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Has Disrupted Daily Life, Led to Surge in School Absences and Missed Medical Appointments

“Immigration defines Boston. For generations, our city has been shaped by people who have endured incredible hardships to arrive at our shores seeking a better life. They drove taxis, opened restaurants, studied at our schools, built homes, repaired our roads and bridges, cared for patients, cleaned offices, built businesses, provided essential early education and childcare for our babies.”

“There is no doubt immigration is essential to the success of Boston.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Today, in a House Oversight Committee hearing, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) discussed how immigrants are essential to the success of Boston. In her exchange with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Congresswoman Pressley discussed how fears of deportation have harmed constituents by leading to a surge in school absences and missed medical appointments. The Congresswoman made clear that Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant policies have not made Boston safer but instead traumatized children, weakened public health, and disrupted daily life.

A full transcript of her exchange with Mayor Wu is below and the full video is available here.

Transcript: Rep. Pressley in Hearing with Mayor Wu: Immigration is Essential to Boston’s Success
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
March 5, 2025

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mayor Wu, I am grateful for our long standing partnership in public service. I am grateful to be your Congresswoman and I am grateful to be your constituent.

It’s clear my colleagues across the aisle didn’t do their homework because the fears and division they’re trying to project on to Boston are really the stuff of Fox News fever dreams.

Our city is vibrant. Our city is diverse. Our city is beautiful.

Mayor Wu, immigration is central to the economic success of Boston, is it not?

MAYOR WU: Absolutely. All of our key industries, whether it’s health care, life sciences, higher education, financial services – everything we do depends on immigrant residents and the contributions that they make.

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you, Mayor Wu. Immigration defines Boston. For generations, our city has been shaped by people who have endured incredible hardships to arrive at our shores seeking a better life. They drove taxis, opened restaurants, studied at our schools, built homes, repaired our roads and bridges, cared for patients, cleaned offices, built businesses, provided essential early education and child care for our babies.

There is no doubt immigration is essential to the success of Boston.

But there is in fact a dark threat looming over this great city.

That threat, is the racist and xenophobic anti-immigrant policies coming from this Trump White House.

Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record this Boston Globe article titled: ‘They’re going to deport us’: Trump’s immigration policies prompt some children to skip school.

Mayor Wu, I have been speaking to principals and educators in Boston at various roundtables and town halls that I’ve convened, and the stories are heartbreaking.

Elementary school children are crying in their teachers’ arms, fearful that they’re going to lose their parents to cruel and unjust deportation raids.

Mayor Wu, last week I met with an esteemed doctor from a local Boston hospital who reported that follow up appointments in her clinic have seen a 200% spike in no shows and cancellations.

Her assessment – her patients are missing critical care like dialysis, prenatal care, and chemotherapy because of fear of immigration raids in our hospitals and healthcare settings.

Mayor Wu, do you agree with this healthcare provider?

MAYOR WU: Absolutely. We hear it from our shared constituents. People are afraid, and that is having huge impact on their daily lives when they’re just trying to do right and be a good example for their kids as they pursue the American dream.

REP. PRESSLEY: Mr. Chair, I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record this article titled: Fearful amid ICE crackdowns, some immigrants are skipping health care.

So here we have a man who thinks he is King, screaming anti-immigrant slurs from the Oval Office, and what has it done to make Boston safer – nothing. Not a thing. But it has traumatized our kids. Cost our elders their dialysis. Delayed cancer patients’ chemotherapy. And struck fear into the heart of hard working people who not only contribute immensely to our city and our community but whose labor and contributions are also essential to the very functions of daily life in our great city.

The members of this committee would be well served by learning from our esteemed Mayor. But a teach in is not the charge of this committee.

I remind my colleagues this committee’s purpose is Oversight and the only person who has something to answer for is Donald Trump.

He is single handedly decimating decades of economic progress, vilifying our immigrant neighbors, and disregarding the Constitution and basic decency daily.

This man points to our most vulnerable, scapegoats them for every hardship while he himself is actually the source of the hardship that the American people are experiencing.

My colleagues don’t really care about criminality. If you really cared about criminality, you would do something about Elon Musk’s power grab stealing our data. You would do something about efforts to defund the National Institute of Health’s cancer research. If you really cared about criminality, you would do something about people that want to rob our babies of food. Make it make sense.

My Republican colleagues across the aisle believe a six-year-old from El Salvador who wants to go to school and a mom who fled violence in Haiti are the reason the cost of eggs are too damn high. And your housing and gas will follow suit surely because of these Donald Trump tariffs.

This shameful Republican rip off – slashing away at basic government services to line the pockets of his buddies and buy them toy yachts and rocket ships.

It is a shame and a sham.

America has a problem and it is Donald J. Trump.

If my colleagues really cared about criminality, they would do something about him.

I am grateful that the people of Boston and my Mayor stand with their neighbors from every walk of life.

I yield back.

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