Press Release  AG Healey Names Five New Members to Office’s Advisory Council on New Americans

BOSTON — With a focus on ensuring her office is best addressing the needs of the state’s immigrant and refugee communities, Attorney General Maura Healey announced she has appointed five new members to serve on her office’s Advisory Council on New Americans.

The new members are:

• Antonio Amaya, Executive Director of La Comunidad, Inc. in Everett
• Brooke Mead, Executive Director of the Berkshire Immigrant Center in Pittsfield
• Jean Marc Jean-Baptiste, Executive Director of the Haitian American Public Health Initiatives in Boston
• Grace Corporan, Site Director of the Families and Youth Initiative/Patch in Lawrence
• Mojdeh Rohani, Executive Director of Community Legal Services and Counseling Center in Cambridge

The new members join 20 other refugee and immigrant leaders from across the state who advise AG Healey and her staff on issues impacting residents in their communities including civil and consumer rights issues, health care, workers’ rights and housing. The new members attended their first council meeting at the AG’s Office today.

“Every year we welcome thousands of immigrants to Massachusetts who enrich our communities and our state,” AG Healey said. “My office partners with our New Americans Council to ensure that our newest residents are treated fairly and have access to the resources they need to build a better life.”

Launched in 2016, the Advisory Council on New Americans is an initiative of the AG’s Community Engagement Division and its members work with office staff to coordinate efforts to support immigrants and their communities. Massachusetts is currently home to more than one million residents who were born outside of the country. Recently, the office partnered with the council to assist Merrimack Valley residents who had been displaced after the September gas explosions. The AG’s Office also works in partnership with the council to hold community presentations on how residents can avoid falling victim to the unauthorized practice of immigration law, a widespread scam known as “notario fraud.”

The AG’s Office has also issued several guides to inform immigrants and service providers about the resources available to them. Last year, the AG’s Office issued a guide to help parents in the event of a sudden detention or deportation by federal immigration officials. The AG’s guide, available in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole and English, provides information to parents who are concerned about their immigration status understand different options for care and custody of a child who remains in the U.S. following parental detention or deportation. The AG’s Office also issued guidance to health care providers and local public school districts on immigration enforcement, and an advisory to public and private colleges and universities on issues that may affect immigrant students.

“Our immigrants make critical contributions to our state and its success,” said Antonio Amaya, executive director of La Comunidad, Inc. “We thank AG Healey for her commitment to making Massachusetts a more welcoming and inclusive place for our immigrants.”

"It is an honor and privilege to serve alongside such a dynamic and dedicated group of leaders,” said Brooke Mead, executive director of the Berkshire Immigrant Center. “Additionally, I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to work with the Attorney General as she attempts to ensure that New Americans know that they too can access all of the services her office provides. The Berkshire Immigrant Center has been a proud partner of the Attorney General's office in their quest to address issues affecting immigrant and minority residents and feel that this council's existence demonstrates AG Healey's strong commitment to justice for all Massachusetts residents.” 

The advisory council meets regularly with the AG’s staff to discuss issues they are seeing in their communities and how the office can improve the lives of the state’s new Americans.

For more information on the new members and the bios of all advisory council members click here.

To view this press release in Spanish click here.

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