Remarks by Benjamin J. Weber
48 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 2
- Play at 53:01
“Oh, yeah. Okay, you'd like me to keep this in the back of my mind if the rules are reversed? Please. We'll see about that. I guess, so maybe I'm sure somebody asked this already. What's your advice for us when we get a call from a family, from somebody who's who knows somebody, how would you, given your experience and what you're seeing across the city and the country, what should we do when we get that phone call from either somebody who's lost their status or somebody who just happens to know somebody who did? Yeah.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 54:42
“And then I guess, so what can we tell people to expect? So they refer them to you and then I guess, like, what are the kind of things in place? Is there any hope? You know, I mean, what can people expect to happen once they've gone through your office?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 56:03
“Okay. And then I guess in terms of sort of planning, my sense is there's some aspect of this that's planning for the worst. So what should people be doing to prepare if they're gonna be deported or detained? What do you recommend we do?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 57:32
“And then, yeah, I guess, so just for the family planning issue, because that's sort of unfortunate. I think people have to prepare, and that's one of the things to make sure your kids are taken care of. Do you need an attorney for that? Does your office do that? Who takes care of the family planning?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 58:40
“Okay. Yeah, so I guess I think what I've been telling people is like there's re-screening for other, you know, avenues for status, essentially, because somebody might have another claim. Exactly. And then family planning. So am I missing anything?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 59:20
“Okay. Okay. And then what's the structure of the hearing? Is there, I see Moroni up there. Yeah.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 59:40
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:53:42
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:54:38
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:56:11
“The hardest part about practicing immigration law was you're not going before an impartial judge. You're playing on their field, and you're asking them to do something. I never enjoyed that. It's obviously a very difficult fight. Thank everyone who goes into that. Sorry.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:57:07
“Okay, and then what about, I mean, so from the employer side, I mean, they can file for guest worker protection. They can say, I need these people or this person to be, like, a foreign guest worker, and that gives them, I think, worker authorization. I just... Is there any discussions about that?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:57:38
“No, I mean, I represented migrant farm workers and a lot of the guest workers, H-2A, H-2B workers, and it's pretty much rubber-stamped, you just say. Like, I put an ad in the... You know, in, I don't know, like Cat Fancy magazine for cotton gin workers and nobody responded. Therefore, there's nobody who wants to do this work.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 1:58:55
“Yeah, and I think as you were talking about what's happening with white South African refugees, I'm pretty sure that when the initial challenges to the termination of TPS status, that there were court decisions finding on the record, on a summary judgment record, that the reason for terminating them was based on racial racism, say racial animus or something. And so I think it's plain that the only justification for this is just flat-out racism. And we see with the ankle monitors and the way people are getting detained near schools or laundromats, that the intention here is to inflict pain. So…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 2:29:31
“Okay, yeah, thanks. Just so it seems like, you know, getting enough qualified attorneys in place immediately is like one of the short-term needs here. So I guess, you know, what can we do? I know we talk about getting law firms involved, but, I mean, can we help with that? What are your, like, you know, instructions on that. Like, what's being done and what can we do to help with that sort of, you know, emergency?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 2:32:36
“Okay. And I guess, so for accreditation, because this is new to me, like we have JP fights back and they have 200 plus people signed up for Luce training. Can I push those people over into this? Is that who you're talking about?”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 2:33:18
“Okay, well, if you haven't spoken to... I mean, there's a fundraiser event in JP next week, and it would be great to have somebody. I'm happy to speak, but maybe we can bring you up on stage. Anyway, so thank you very much. Thank you to the chair.”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 2:46:53
“Thank you. Yesterday, there's somebody, a construction worker died, you know, falling off a scaffolding in Jamaica Plain. And it made me think about, there was a book by Jimmy Breslin, I think it's called The Short Sweet Dream of Eduardo Gutierrez, about a Mexican immigrant who comes to New York, and he died falling off a scaffold in a similar way. And in the book, Jimmy Breslin has a line, something along the lines of, I don't think somebody's rights should be dictated based on what side of a line they were born on. And I think what we're seeing here is just it's that and mixed up in a stew…”
City Council · Sep 25, 2026
- Play at 18:38
“Mark, over here. uh yeah okay yeah uh there's also like this way we can walk that way okay uh well um i guess as you're walking up here so uh you know i i i speak from personal experience, but I think every counselor could use someone in their office who is smart, will go to the mat for you, and who is able to occasionally look you in the eye and say with conviction, you're full of crap. Mark Cohen, for me, is that guy. As someone who's worked for the city for nearly 40 years, Mark brought his saltiness and some wisdom sprinkled in to this job and to our office. But hey, I always wanted to…”
City Council · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 24:32
“If my colleagues could join us for a photograph.”
City Council · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:33:23
“Thank you very much, Madam President. First, I'd like to add Councillor Coletta Zapata as an original co-sponsor. Councillor Coletta Zapata is so added. And I'd like to add Councillor Santana as a third sponsor.”
City Council · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 1:33:42
“Okay, and I'd just like to recognize some of my other colleagues. We only have room for two co-sponsors. I know Councillor Culpepper reached out. I apologize for the clean-up hitter, but we only have room for three here. And I know Councillor Mejia has spoken. ABOUT SURVEILLANCE AND CERTAINLY WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE HER COMMENTS PUBLICLY ABOUT THIS ISSUE. SO THIS BODY PASSED A SURVEILLANCE OVERSIGHT ORDINANCE IN OCTOBER 2021. I THINK NOW IS THE TIME TO take another look at that given what we've seen over the last few years regarding how that ordinance applies to what's going on in the city and…”
City Council · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 3:10:52
“Okay, thank you, Chair. I just want to thank Councilor Pippin for adding me. You know, I think we all know that we need to DO AS MUCH AS WE CAN TO JUMP START HOUSING PRODUCTION HERE IN THE CITY. AND THIS IS ONE WAY OF DOING THAT WHILE MAINTAINING THE REQUIREMENT THAT WE BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING. SO THIS IS A WAY TO GET UNITS AND EVEN IF PEOPLE BUY OUT THEIR AFFORDABLE UNITS, WE'RE GETTING AN EXTRA UNIT OF HOUSING PLUS MONEY TO BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING. I applaud Councillor Pepin for filing this. I look forward to the discussion with my colleagues. Thank you.”
City Council · Sep 23, 2026
- Play at 3:23:49
“I just want to say, as a former resident of Nashville, Tennessee, that, you know, Dolly Parton was a wonderful part of the community there, and I think all of the accolades she's getting are well-deserved. I just want to join my colleagues in this resolution. Thank you.”
City Council · Sep 23, 2026