About 2,000 immigrants swore allegiance to the United States yesterday as they raised their hands to take the oath of citizenship in the World Trade Center on the South Boston waterfront. But the only way most people would have found out about it was by reading the last paragraph in Paul Levy’s Not Running a Hospital blog entry, where he describes apparently stumbling on the ceremony and peeking in at it through the glass doors.
“Don’t ever believe that you are less of a US citizen than people born here,” the presiding judge told the new Americans, according to Levy.
It doesn’t appear the Globe or the Herald attended the ceremony since both papers’ websites lacked any mention or pictures of the event. Given the raw emotions surrounding the immigration reform debate, especially in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, you have to wonder if federal officials intentionally downplayed yesterday’s ceremony. Usually, officials send out a press release touting the ceremonies but an online search turned up no advance publicity for the event. The Globe and Herald have run stories and pictures in the past of naturalization ceremonies in Boston, and you have to believe any editor aware of the event would have not hesitated to assign both a reporter and photographer to get reaction.
But the debate right now is so incendiary, there’s little room for moderation in either discussion or coverage. As some such as Howie Carr ramp up the fight against immigration reform, especially allowing Muslims into the country, still others point out that accused bombers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is an American citizen, making his inclusion in the debate moot. Some outlets wrongfully identify dead bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a citizen rather than a legal permanent resident. His application was held up because of red flags over his increasing radicalism, an action some say proves the system works.
But that isn’t stopping those who want to derail immigration reform from using the bombings as a wedge to halt debate. Sen. Rand Paul, a potential Republican presidential candidate, has been the most vocal, calling on President Obama and congressional leaders to shelve the bills until all information is in regarding how the Tsarnaevs slipped through all the safeguards. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was the first to urge caution in proceeding on immigration reform until all the facts surface. But Grassley may have tipped his hand when he started by saying, “While we don’t yet know the immigration status of people who have terrorized the community in Massachusetts, when we find out, it will help shed light on the weaknesses of our system.” Perhaps knowing makes a difference.
But even within the Republican party, Grassley and Paul don’t represent the only viewpoint. Both House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor say the bombings should not impede immigration reform, arguing that changes could make it easier for officials to find, track, and bar terrorists. Some conservative voices have warned of the danger of “overstating Boston.”
But the strident conservative views have been the most prominent in the GOP for several years, and influential members of that wing are growing increasingly shrill in highlighting what they say are the lessons of Boston. Some say the bombing plot shows the lax efforts by immigration officials to use deportation as a tool.
Perhaps the lessons of Boston are this: Whenever there is a hot button issue in American political debate, it would be naïve to think a catastrophic event such as the Marathon bombings won’t find its way into the conversation.
–JACK SULLIVAN
MARATHON BOMBING
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the alleged Boston Marathon bombers hatched a spontaneous plan while on the run last Thursday night to drive to New York and set off more bombs in Times Square.
In the first detailed account of the harrowing 90 minutes that he spent as a carjacking victim of the Tsarnaev brothers, a Chinese immigrant who works at a Kendall Square start-up gives an interview to the Globe’s Eric Moskowitz. Radio Boston examines some of the “facts” that have changed in the bombing case. Meanwhile, Kevin Cullen has the gripping narrative from the Watertown denouement after talking to law enforcement and fire department personnel who were on the scene.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was moved overnight from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston to a federal prison medical facility at Fort Devens, as investigators combed a New Bedford landfill, looking for his laptop.
More evidence of a breakdown in information-sharing among various intelligence agencies.
The MetroWest Daily News supports trying Tsarnaev in the civilian court system.
State Police investigators are looking into whether MBTA police officer Richard Donohue was wounded by friendly fire during last week’s shootout with the Tsarnaev brothers.
The Herald keeps after Gov. Deval Patrick in a bid to access Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s welfare records; Patrick says the law doesn’t allow him to disclose anything publicly.
BEACON HILL
State Senate President Therese Murray lashes out at the Globe’s coverage of the federal indictment of former state Probation chief John O’Brien. Martin Weinberg, the lawyer who got one of Sal DiMasi’s co-defendants acquitted and is now handling the appeal for another, says federal prosecutors are “taking federal corruption cases to a new frontier” by prosecuting alleged non-cash bribes. CommonWealth’s Back Story raises the question of how one can be charged with a bribe if the recipients are not charged with accepting one.
Gov. Patrick isn’t saying whether he’ll sign or veto the transportation finance package the Legislature sent him.
A proposed bill would make it illegal to drive after getting high on inhalants.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
A Weymouth firefighter lost his appeal to regain his job after he was terminated last year for smoking cigarettes in violation of a statewide ban on tobacco use by firefighters and police officers. This was the same firefighter who successfully appealed his two-day suspension in 2010 when he filed an injury report claiming he got razor burn after he was ordered to shave off his moustache.
A number of local races on the South Shore are drawing few candidates for a variety of reasons.
CASINOS
The state is seeking dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the tribal set aside for a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts after the Gaming Commission opened up bidding for the license in that area to commercial developers.
City officials in Everett have struck an agreement with Steve Wynn to host a $1.2 billion casino.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
From the “duh” department: Some Washington politcos seem to be surprised by sequester-generated airline travel issues.
The Senate is quietly trying to revive gun control legislation.
Maryland’s corrections department becomes a laughingstock after a gang essentially takes over a jail and the gang’s leader impregnates four female guards, the Daily Beast reports.
Philadelphia’s city council approves legislation requiring the city to cover “gender-confirmation surgery” and gender-neutral bathrooms, Philly.com reports.
ELECTIONS
The Globe says Democratic US Senate hopeful Steve Lynch has gotten his facts wrong in his attacks on primary rival Ed Markey over homeland security votes. The Atlantic asks whether Lynch can capture that old Scott Brown magic.
Republican US Senate candidate Michael Sullivan has a complicated background when it comes to gun law, serving as acting director of the federal agency charged with clamping down on gun trafficking before working in the private sector as a lawyer for gun-rights groups fighting against further constraints on guns.
The Globe profiles Republican Senate candidate Dan Winslow.
CHARITIES
A grassroots coalition of young Girl Scout employees, volunteers, and alumnae is trying to push the group’s national headquarters to get its fiscal house in order, citing declining membership, a $340 million pension deficit, and an office on New York’s expensive Fifth Avenue.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Meet the pay phone of the future.
The new developer of Boston’s Filene’s tower buys out its old partner.
A federal bill allowing all states to tax internet sales is advancing because Amazon stopped fighting it.
EDUCATION
Lynn school enrollment is growing quickly, putting the system in a space squeeze, the Item reports.
A new Stanford University study suggests that Advanced Placement courses do not necessarily provide the benefits that students, parents, and educators assume they do..
TRANSPORTATION
The TSA has indefinitely suspended its decision to allow small knives on flights pending an inspection by the Homeland Security inspector general as prompted by senators Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, and Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.
The Senate voted last night to end to give the FAA some budget-shifting flexibility to end furloughs of air traffic controllers.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
A proposal to build a solar farm in West Bridgewater by the non-profit Citizens Energy, which is run by Joe Kennedy (the former, not current, congressman), was turned down by the Zoning Board after residents in the area objected.
Fall River officials are still looking for a solution to the city’s trash problem as the landfill is expected to be at capacity by the end of next year.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The lawyer for former state chemist Annie Dookhan says he has held cursory talks with prosecutors about a plea deal, the Herald reports.
The Eagle-Tribune has an interesting story about a sex offender who is accused by his neighbor of exposing himself. Prosecutors sought a six-month jail sentence, but the judge lets him go.
A Salem jury clears a man of raping a 5-year-old girl, the Salem News reports.
The son of Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis pleads guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol in New Hampshire, the AP reports (via WBUR).
MEDIA
Another price hike at the Globe even as the New York Times put the paper up for sale, the Boston Business Journal reports. The Globe’s Kevin Cullen does not have a future in standup comedy.
Nonprofit and independent media are starting to have real influence, Rory O’Connor reports for Policymic.
