An interest in countering federal persecution of immigrants has inspired attorney Diann Slavit Baylis to run for Governor’s Council, she said Friday. Slavit Baylis, of Marblehead, is in Massachusetts’ 6th District, which includes Somerville and most of Cambridge as well as Medford and six other cities, 10 towns to the north and parts of Boston.
The council provides advice and consent on gubernatorial judicial appointments, pardons and commutations. It also plays a role in the certification of state election results.
While most immigration proceedings take place in federal immigration courts, special immigrant juvenile status, a path to citizenship for unaccompanied minors, is determined at the state level through the probate courts, Slavit Baylis noted in a press release.
“What many people don’t know is that critical decisions impacting the lives of children who enter the country unaccompanied, like the clients that I have represented as immigration counsel, are being made in our state probate courts,” Slavit Baylis said. “This is a dangerous time for immigrant families. We must ensure that people appointed to judgeships understand immigration law and that they will stand up for the constitutional rights, safety and best interests of immigrants and immigrant children.”
Slavit-Baylis, an immigration attorney, is a graduate of Merrimack College and Suffolk Law School involved in the Massachusetts Democratic Party and Marblehead Democratic Town Committee. She said has supported the work of the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
She took out nomination papers this week from the Secretary of State’s Office and plans to collect nomination signatures throughout the district, Slavit-Baylis said.
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