The Protect Our Neighbors Coalition invites you to send a letter urging the North Adams City Council to reject a federal grant that exposes the city to unnecessary risk and gambles with the safety and trust of vulnerable members of our community.

Join us to deliver our related petition at the next City Council Meeting on October 27th at 7:00pm (City Hall, 10 Main St, North Adams, MA 01247). Sign the petition here, and RSVP here.

What is happening?
The North Adams City Council is considering whether to accept a $14,231 FY2025 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant to help renovate the Police Department’s evidence room.

There is broad agreement that improving the evidence room is a legitimate public-safety goal. The concern is that the federal grant comes with new immigration-related conditions governing cooperation and information-sharing with federal authorities.

Those conditions remain legally contested. The U.S. Department of Justice is currently not enforcing four of the disputed conditions because of ongoing federal litigation, while reserving the possibility of enforcing them later if the legal landscape changes.

Massachusetts is also participating in litigation challenging these conditions, and the Council has postponed its vote while seeking additional guidance from the Massachusetts Attorney General.

Why does this matter?
There are three important questions for North Adams:

1. The legal scope remains uncertain.
The City Solicitor has interpreted the federal conditions as applying narrowly to the grant-funded evidence-room activity. But questions remain about how broadly the federally funded “program or activity” could be interpreted if the conditions are eventually enforced.

That uncertainty should be resolved before the city accepts the award—not after a conflict arises.

2. There may be another way to fund the evidence room.
Councilor Peter Breen identified approximately $15,000 in other potential city funds that could possibly be used toward the evidence-room project.

If those funds are available, this does not have to be a choice between accepting the federal grant and abandoning the evidence-room improvements.

There may be a third option:

Fund the evidence room without accepting the federal immigration conditions.

3. Community trust also has to be part of the calculation.
Trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement is already fragile.

Residents need to feel safe reporting crimes, calling for help, cooperating with investigations, accessing services, and interacting with local government.

When evaluating the grant, the Council should consider not only the $14,231 benefit but also the legal uncertainty and the potential consequences for community trust.