“To the Trump administration, immigrants are numbers on a spreadsheet. To the people of Everett, they are our neighbors, our students, our coworkers, our loved ones…. Here, community is not just a word. It is a practice.”

“Let us govern with compassion. Let us lead with courage and hope that that courage is contagious. And let us keep showing up for all the people of Everett.”

Video (YouTube)

EVERETT – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) delivered remarks at the City of Everett’s inaugural exercises. In her remarks, Congresswoman Pressley congratulated Everett Mayor Robert Van Campen, the Everett City Councilors, and the Everett School Committee Members, and applauded the strength of the Everett community, emphasizing the importance of partnership at the municipal, state, and federal level to deliver for communities across the Massachusetts 7^th.

The Congresswoman was joined at the ceremony by Mayor Van Campen, Governor Maura Healey, and state and local officials. Today, Rep. Pressley also attended the City of Boston’s inauguration event and the City of Chelsea’s swearing-in ceremony.

A full transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks is available below and the video is available here.

Transcript: In Everett Inauguration Speech, Pressley Commends Strength of Everett Community, Defense of Immigrant Neighbors Amid Trump’s Attacks
January 5, 2026
Everett City Hall

Good evening. I hardly feel like a special guest. I feel very at home, especially here at EHS. 

EHS rises. It’s wonderful to be back here with this incredible marching band orchestra. I’ve spent time with the culinary arts students as well throughout the years, incredible program, the government students, incredible ambassadors. 

You are not the future. You’re not future leaders—you are already leading. And so can we just one more time commend our extraordinary young people?

Now I know there are many faith traditions that are represented here on the dais today. Now, I have been confirmed in the Methodist Church and baptized in the Baptist Church. This evening, I will try to lean on my Methodist roots and not my Baptist ones, which means I will err towards brevity, okay.

But before I get in to my brief remarks, and again, I thank you for the invitation to join you here today, I do want to thank our indomitable Governor at a time—it feels so good to be home. It is a great honor to serve as the Congresswoman representing the Massachusetts 7th Congressional District, but there is chaos that abounds in Washington in this moment, and you certainly deserve a functional government. 

And so in the midst of that chaos, it is wonderful to have a governor that has stood shoulder to shoulder in defense of our values as a Commonwealth, and who has been a great partner. Also, my brother in service, State Senator Sal DiDomenico. I’m so grateful to you. Thank you for standing in the gap. 

Yes, let’s clap for our governor and our state senator. Do not take their leadership for granted. 

Again, I’m so grateful that they continue to stand in the gap and to be partners in this unprecedented moment for Everett, for our Commonwealth and for our country. 

I thank Representative McGonagle as well, Superintendent Hart, Clerk of Court Sullivan, Middlesex DA Marian Ryan, Bishop, Father, Rabbi, Reverend, again, all of our faith leaders. 

As someone who grew up in the church, I certainly do believe in the power of prayer. And there is an adage that says, “When you pray, move your feet.” So we will continue to pray and we will continue to move our feet in the work of taking care of one another. Okay, one more, one more clap on that. 

I also want to say how extraordinary it is to be here with you for these inaugural exercises in that I served on the Boston City Council for eight years. So I know how hard each and every one of these public servants work, in the School Committee, on city council, and I also for two of my terms on the Boston City Council, I was the only woman, and when I departed that body and was elected to Congress, there was unprecedented representation of women on that body. 

And a reporter had asked me, “What do you think is this like a wave, a new trend, magic, that all these women are getting elected at every level, an unprecedented representation?”

And I said, “No, it’s because we’re damn good and we’re here to stay.” So let’s give it up to every member of the Everett City Council, the Everett School Committee, and to our Mayor. 

Can you feel a brand new day? Can you feel a brand new day? We are on the precipice of one here in Everett, Mayor Van Campen, and thank you for the invitation to join you here today. And I don’t know maybe, maybe the Governor might take umbrage with this point, but Governor, many have maintained that there is no harder job than being a mayor. 

It is hard, but it is some of the most meaningful, rewarding work that one can do, and so we thank you for picking up that mantle, and I look forward to working in partnership with you on behalf of the people of this great city. 

Alright now. You know, inaugurations are moments of promise. They invite us to imagine what is possible, to envision a future that is more just, that is more equitable, more humane than the past that we have endured, but they are also moments of truth, and truth requires us to name the pain we carry with us into this new chapter. 

When the current administration vowed to bring hell to Boston, we knew exactly what that meant for cities like Everett, like Chelsea, like Revere—working class cities, immigrant cities, resilient cities. 

We watched as cruelty was dressed up as policy. We watched as fear was weaponized, and some of our most essential neighbors were reduced to talking points and quotas.

To the Trump administration, immigrants are numbers on a spreadsheet. To the people of Everett, they are our neighbors, our students, our coworkers, our loved ones, people we live with, work and worship with.

The administration claimed to target the undocumented while systemically dismantling legal immigration pathways, canceling naturalization ceremonies and ripping away green cards from people who followed the rules but were simply born in the wrong place. 

They claim to uphold law and order while descending on our neighborhood in unmarked vehicles, harboring terror, abducting women, children and innocent bystanders.

And yet, Everett has endured. As the saying goes, tough times don’t last, but tough people do, and the people of Everett are tough. 

You have continued to show up. You have organized. You have asked hard questions. You have held myself and my colleagues accountable. You have demanded more. You have showed up at the ballot box. You have showed up in church basements. You have showed up at faith houses. You have showed up to volunteer at food pantries, because Everett is a city that takes care of its own. 

You have stood by your neighbors. You have invested in immigrant-owned small businesses. I’ll say nothing of your restaurants, because every time I leave Everett, I leave with a full heart and an even fuller belly. 

Here, community is not just a word. It is a practice. And as we continue to confront an administration that governs through division and fear, Everett must continue to rely on one another, across neighborhoods, across languages, across lines of difference. 

There are two lessons I carry with me, as I close, from my time on the Boston City Council. We began every meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, and I would always amend that final line with liberty and justice for all—someday.

Each of you give me hope that we are getting closer to that someday, with community and solidarity.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from my time on the Council is that lasting change requires real partnership across local, state and federal government. A partnership that is rooted, Mr. Mayor, in trust, in accountability, in transparency, and in shared purpose. 

Every day, my team and I are proud to work alongside Everett’s leaders to protect and uplift this community, but let us be clear, these are not normal times. 

This moment demands of us courage, clarity, and moral leadership, and leadership is not about comfort. It never has been. It’s about conscience. And this moment calls on all of us to meet it with boldness and with radical love. 

I’m so proud to call the Massachusetts 7th my home. I’m proud to represent the great city of Everett in the United States Congress, and I’m proud to stand here with you tonight, Mayor Van Campen, and members of the city council, members of the school committee, congratulations. 

Let us govern with compassion. Let us lead with courage and hope that that courage is contagious. 

And let us keep showing up for all the people of Everett.

Thank you.

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