Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey last week denounced the actions of federal authorities to bar some immigrants from attending a citizenship ceremony at Faneuil Hall as “cruel and calculated racism” by the Trump administration.
“Individuals on the precipice of American citizenship were plucked out of line here at Faneuil Hall, not because of anything which they did, but because of where they were born,” he said. “They had done nothing wrong, and yet they were treated with cruelty.”
Markey, a 79-year-old Democrat up for reelection next year, spoke to reporters on the second floor of the historic meeting hall in downtown Boston alongside Brooke Simone, a staff attorney for Lawyers for Civil Rights, and Carol Rose, the executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts.
All three expressed alarm and dismay that on Dec. 4, four people who have been in the country lawfully for years and fulfilled every requirement on their path to US citizenship were not allowed to enter Faneuil Hall by US Citizenship and Immigration Services officials.
At least two people were told to step out of line after they arrived the venue, according to Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship, which helps people across New England with their citizenship applications
Markey said those removed are not in ICE custody, and that “they are just being denied their right to take the oath of citizenship.”
“Obviously, right now they are understandably fearful” of ICE taking them into custody, he added.
In addition to the two immigrants who were asked to step out of line last week, 19 other clients of Project Citizenship have received letters telling them not to attend oath ceremonies scheduled for early 2026, the group said.
All 21 immigrants, who are residents of Massachusetts, are from a group of countries the Trump administration has deemed high-risk, according to Project Citizenship.
The US Department of Homeland Security said they were not allowed to participate in the oath ceremonies at Faneuil Hall to “ensure that all aliens from these countries are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
Most of the 21 immigrants are from Haiti, Breslow said, with about four from Venezuela and one is from Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa along the Red Sea.
On Dec. 4, a Haitian woman in her 50s who was told to leave Faneuil Hall. She has lived lawfully in the US for over 20 years and began working with Project Citizenship in January, Breslow said.
“We serve a large Haitian community in Boston,” Breslow said.
Several of the 21 immigrants are employed in health care, some in tech, and some are Uber drivers, Breslow said.
“It runs the gamut,” said Breslow, describing their livelihoods.
Markey said that he visited the ICE detention facility in Burlington, which he described as a “bleak, frigid facility where no one deserves to be held.”
“I asked that policies can be changed so that detained immigrants can meet with their attorneys and families and clergy,” he said. “Detainees deserve dignity.”
Simone, whose organization routinely represents immigrants detained by ICE, said last week that her organization will “continue to challenge ICE’s unconstitutional actions.”
“We are here, we will fight for you, and we will fight with you,” she said, addressing the immigrant community in Massachusetts.
Truman Dickerson can be reached at truman.dickerson@globe.com. Claire Thornton can be reached at claire.thornton@globe.com. Follow Claire on X @claire_thornto.