Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell spent time this week touring Berkshire County communities to highlight state grants that benefit a range of causes — including violence reduction and maternal health.
The Democrat has been a vocal opponent of Trump administration policies and has sued the White House several times over the last few months to protect federal funding.
WAMC’s Lucas Willard spoke with Campbell by phone Thursday afternoon as she continued her tour of cities and towns in the westernmost part of the Bay State.
So, today I was at Berkshire Medical Center where we are have granted them two grants, one for maternal health and working on disparities related to maternal health, and then the second was a new grant. We also developed a public health model for gun violence prevention. They received one of those grants, and so just got to listen to an incredible team of doctors and providers and nonprofit officials, including former law enforcement, what they're doing with respect to those grants. One is just using the maternal health grant to close disparities, but most importantly, to help parents after they give birth with post-medical care to help them prior to, everything in between, nutritional support, mental health support, just supports all around. It's a real wrap-around approach. And so, they were grateful for these resources. And then, with respect to the public health model grant, they're using it to develop a curriculum, or as they refer to it, as a playbook, to really help the community, not just their own, but the community deal with suicide and preventing suicides after folks in the emergency room really suffered a tragic loss, given the loss of a former law enforcement official who committed suicide. And so, they're doing remarkable work with these resources. And it was just an honor and privilege to be there. And then earlier in the day, I was at the Berkshire Family YMCA, speaking to their campers and counselors, and also to two young, incredible ladies who are recipients of our Healthy Youth summer jobs grant. So just overall, a wonderful day to be out here and to remind folks we'll continue to be thoughtful in our grants, and most importantly, using a regional equity lens to ensure this county gets everything they deserve, because I recognize they're often overlooked dealing with the same issues, and they need more resources and more human capital.
Did any of the individuals that you spoke with during your trip to the Berkshires speak about the impact of federal cuts, either cuts that they've seen already or potential cuts that they are worried about when it comes to supporting programs like the ones you just mentioned?
I think many are concerned, particularly around the federal funding cuts and the actions, the unlawful actions that the federal administration is taking to prevent these institutions from receiving the resources they're entitled to. It also came up quite a bit [Wednesday] when I was at various institutions. So, one was the Railroad Street Youth Project, real concerns about the cruel immigration and ICE enforcement policies in their communities, and really pushing to hold folks accountable. They appreciate all the guidance and the Know Your Rights and all the work we're doing to make sure people have access to lawyers to bond and just to hold these folks accountable. So, immigration came up quite a bit, along with just the mental health and the mental health of young people. And then, in addition to that, the federal funding, we’re fighting. We just filed a lawsuit [Wednesday] to protect BRIC funding, which has to do with natural disasters and making sure that folks have access to all the resources they would need to deal with those type of things, along with environmental concerns.
When it comes to immigration, another suit that you've filed against the Trump administration is for the administration sharing of personal health data with ICE. Can you tell me a little bit more about that lawsuit and that sharing within departments that you are concerned about?
I think we're concerned about a whole host of things coming from the administration. One is just the blatant and persistent unlawful actions to cut federal funding, which we know is critical, over $25 billion or close to it, that we get coming to the state for public health purposes, public safety purposes, and then in the context of immigration, making sure that we're protecting our people and that information that ICE is not entitled to and should not receive, because we know they're only going to use it for unlawful purposes or cruel purposes, I should say, which includes maybe picking up students who are lawfully here, as in the case of Rumeysa, the Tufts student, or picking up high school students who have no law enforcement or criminal record whatsoever, by every metric, are doing what they're supposed to do, and instead are being picked up by ICE, or folks who are of active asylum applications. So, they're not doing any of this to advance public safety. It's the opposite. It’s creating fear in our communities. So we're fighting back to protect the privacy and due process of our residents and their information, while also, at the same time, lifting up local law enforcement, statewide law enforcement that have done a great job of building trust in their communities. They're hoping that that trust doesn't get eroded because of the activities of ICE and they still have to do their public safety jobs. So, it's a difficult situation, but we're doing our best to law enforcement, reminding them they do not have to work with ICE at all, they have deference here and that we don't want to be a part of the fear mongering that's taking place in our communities.
Last month, the Supreme Court acted to limit federal judges’ abilities to impose nationwide injunctions. Does this Supreme Court decision affect your work in any way in seeking injunctions on Trump administration policies that you oppose?
I will say at times, it may make it a bit challenging when seeking a nationwide injunction, but as we said to the court, we don't believe nationwide injunctions are warranted in every case, and there may be instances where it's being overused, but when we go to court, we do it thoughtfully, and when I say we, Democratic AGs, we do it thoughtfully, seeking relief that we know is appropriate. And in the context of this case, it was birthright citizenship, saying, if you're born in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, it doesn't matter. If anything, we need relief from the court saying that the president's executive order seeking to eradicate birthright citizenship is not only unlawful, but that relief has to extend beyond Massachusetts, because some people are born into our hospitals will then leave to go on to New Hampshire, and it would not make any sense if, suddenly, they're born here and they are a citizen, but then they go to New Hampshire and they are not, so the confusion and chaos it would create for states. And so, we just have to go back to the lower courts, which we have to ask them to issue the same relief they issued before, which is to say that this executive order by the President of birthright citizenship is unlawful and that the relief we need has to extend beyond Massachusetts.
Today, the Urban League released its State of Black America report, which puts a focus on threats to voting rights and talks a lot about the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and warns of white supremacism in American politics. Have you had a chance to take a look at the report or speak with members of the Urban League about their concerns, and in particular, about voting rights and access to democracy in this country?
We have engaged with the Urban League and other civil rights organizations with respect to many of our lawsuits, especially in the context of protecting public education, doing what we could in other states, modeling how accessible our ballot is. And of course, there's still work to do in Massachusetts to expand access to the ballot and even possibilities around same day registration, other ways in which to make it easier for folks to be able to vote and be civically engaged. But some of what we have here is, early voting in particular, is being used as a model for other states and working with these civil rights orgs to protect the access to the ballot issues. I'm still reviewing the report that just came out, but the partnership runs deep with the Urban League and so many other organizations recognizing, even as we hold the federal administration accountable for taking not only protecting the rule of law democracy and, of course, making sure people have access to the ballot to protect the integrity of our elections, we still have proactive work we're doing here. We still need to close black maternal health gaps that exist in Massachusetts or the racial wealth gap that exists in Massachusetts, also pulling up poor and rural communities that may have a different demographic racially but share the same challenges. So, how might we expand our coalitions on this type of work to ensure all those affected by these same issues get the solutions and the resources they need to be able to not just live day to day, but to prosper and thrive. So, I'm confident I'll continue, and the office will continue the collaboration with the Urban League, along with other community-based organizations
And AG Campbell, as we're speaking, Congress is considering final approval of the rescission package, which includes a billion dollars in cuts to public broadcasting. I know you are involved in public broadcasting with your ‘Ask the AG Program’ on GBH, and you're speaking with a public media station right now, and at the same time, officials with the with the White House have signaled that, you know, they may be open to pursuing future rescission packages as well. What do you think of these cuts and the prospect of future clawbacks approved by the Senate and the House?
It's disheartening. It's horrific, and I think it really speaks to the scale and scope of not only the president and the federal administration, but also those in Congress who want to bring us backwards and not forward. Folks who access media outlets, particularly in our western part of the state, or more rural communities that don't have access to the media outlets and outputs that others do on the eastern part of the state, public radio, public institutions like this, are critical for folks getting basic information on what's happening and how they can get involved, what resources are available to them. And yet, we see an administration at the federal level of Congress led by Republicans. And people often say, we don't want to get partisan, but that's who's leading this defunding these public institutions and public radio, defunding, or trying to defund our libraries and our cultural institutions, defunding some of our public safety work that would address gun trafficking and human trafficking and other efforts that we're trying to make here in Massachusetts. I was just in Becket yesterday with our neighborhood renewal division on a project we're doing there, and have almost completed it, of turning a blighted property into a home ownership opportunity for a new home or homeowner from Beckett, they're doing nothing on housing. And if anything, defunding some of that work funding Medicaid. So if anything, the federal government and the federal congressional leadership is going in the wrong direction, and we'll have to fill some of those voids, and I, as the Ag of Massachusetts and my team, are up for the challenge of holding them accountable for some of these unlawful threats, and at the same time offering resources and other efforts to be able to close these gaps and still address the challenges of our constituents.
Attorney General. Andrea Joy Campbell, thank you so much for speaking with me. I appreciate it.
Thank you and enjoy the rest of your day.