Immigrant Somerville teens open photo exhibit in State House

On June 16, 2010, in Uncategorized, by The News Staff

Dimas Avila stands in front of his art work,
part of an exhibition at the State House by the teenage artists of
Centro Presente, an immigrant advocacy group in Somerville.

~Photos by George
P. Hassett

By George P. Hassett

Two weeks
after Massachusetts senators passed a far-reaching crackdown on illegal
immigrants, a group of Somerville immigrant teenagers opened their
photography exhibit at the State House.

The teens, working with
the immigrant advocacy group Centro Presente, took pictures of their
everyday life in Somerville – lower Broadway barber shops, stores,
landmarks, Mr. Quintanilla, "one of the few Latino teachers at
Somerville High" – to add a face to the simmering immigration debate.

The
exhibit is on display through Friday.

"We want to show people
that we can contribute to the future of Massachusetts," said Dimas
Avila, who graduated from Somerville High School last week.

The
photo exhibit is the latest pro-immigrant measure to come out of
Somerville, where 30 percent of residents were born in a different
country and ethnic restaurants are a staple of the local economy.

"[Immigrants]
don't get harassed in Somerville," said Juan Carlos Acosta, an eighth
grader at Winter Hill Community School with a photo in the State House
exhibit.

"We're accepted in Somerville," said Avila. "Somerville
is a tight community and it's very diverse, there's more understanding
that we are here to work hard and achieve our dreams."

State Rep.
Denise Provost, D-Somerville, gave opening remarks in English with a
few phrases in Spanish and state Sen. Pat Jehlen, D-Somerville, welcomed
the young artists – some of whom are undocumented after entering the
country illegally with their parents – into a building where tough new
laws were passed in May cracking down on illegal immigrants.

The
new regulations, passed as an amendment to the state budget, would bar
the state from doing business with any company found to break federal
laws against illegal immigrant hiring. It would also toughen penalties
for creating or using fake identification documents, and explicitly deny
in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants.

On their way
into the State House today, the teens passed a lone protester holding a
sign that read, "Arizona had the right idea," referencing Arizona's new
immigration law, the strictest in the nation.

The protester, Joe
O'Malley, said, "I'm not anti-immigrant. I'm anti-illegal immigrant.
We're laying off teachers, cops and firefighters while offering benefits
to people who came here illegally."