LAKEVILLE — Attorney General William Tong knows first hand about the plight of immigrants.
He spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at Trinity Lime Rock Church March 6, which together with those on Zoom totaled 225. The event was hosted by Vecinos Seguros 2, a grassroots organization that works to make sure those without legal status know their rights.
Tong has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies and is part of a group of attorneys general around the country who are banding together to take legal action against his actions.
He stirred the audience with his personal story. Growing up in West Hartford, where he remembered kids showing up at his school from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam after he was the first Asian student enrolled, he thought “they were refugees and I was the son of immigrants. I thought I was better than them. In fullness of time, I realized what we were all doing here. My parents and grandparents ran for their lives in China. I am nothing but the son of refugees. There was no daylight between those kids and the immigrants showing up today.”
Tong related how his parents met while both were working in a restaurant in Hartford. One day, in the 1970s, a representative from the Immigration and Naturalization Service showed up and because his father was undocumented, was threatened with deportation. After much thought, the senior Tong was resigned to the fact he would have to leave. But shortly before the deadline, while driving along the Berlin Turnpike, he decided to make a last-ditch effort. He went home and wrote a six-page handwritten letter to then-President Richard Nixon explaining his case. The INS agent returned later and said the president had read the letter and sent the message that the country welcomed him and urged him to stay.
Tong said he’s often asked what brings him hope during these times. “In one generation, I went from that Chinese restaurant to attorney general of this state. There are kids out there now; families living with that dream. We need to help them keep it.”
The attorney general said that when Trump talks about denaturalizing citizens and then about anchor babies, he is talking about him. “Banning birthright citizens is utterly and brazenly unconstitutional.” Audience members, as they did several times during the presentation, applauded loudly.
Speaking on the importance of immigration for moral and economic structural reasons, Tong noted, “America runs on Dunkin’ and immigrant workers. There would be no economy without immigrants.” Half of all farm workers are undocumented, as are half of those working in the meat packing industry he said.
It was standing-room only for Attorney General William Tong’s talk on immigration at Trinity Church Lime Rock Thursday, March 7. Photo by Ruth Epstein
Touching on Connecticut’s Trust Act that was passed in 2013, Tong explained that it limits how local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration officials to protect the rights of undocumented immigrants. He called efforts to repeal the act “ridiculous,” saying “the federal government does its job and we here do ours.” He said if anyone tries to get rid of the act, he will fight it and believes he’ll win, emphasizing several times that Connecticut is a sovereign state. The federal government has a lot of power, but can’t come to Connecticut to tell its citizens what to do.
When asked what people can do to help those without legal status, Tong advised not to put anyone at risk and make sure they have a plan if ICE shows up. Agents must have a judicial warrant to come on private property. He also recommended they seek people who will provide pro-bono legal advice. He said those holding green cards have legal status and should be respected by ICE. He also recommended not using the word “sanctuary” since it has no legal meaning and can be inflammatory. He was also forthright in saying not everyone can be protected from deportation.
He added there is no evidence to support the claims that immigrants create crime more than American citizens and stressed the Trust Act does not protect violent criminals.
At the outset, Tong said he and his colleagues had sued the federal government when Trump and the Office of Policy and Management tried to freeze all federal funding for a variety of grants, especially those dealing with medical research. “We now have an injunction to stop him from breaking the law. Remembering we have checks and balances, we’re serving as the only check since there is so much disinformation out there.”
Coming to the end of his message, Tong’s tone was foreboding. “We’re not on the precipice of a constitutional crisis, we’re in one. Trump is already not in compliance with federal court orders. If he doesn’t follow Supreme Court rulings, we’re in a dark place. We all have the responsibility to take to the streets and speak out.”
Contemporary chamber musicians, HUB, performing at The Clark.
MASS MoCA is known for its 20th-century holdings spread throughout a sprawling complex of industrial brick buildings. Installations by Sol LeWitt and James Turrell have permanent homes there. Just down the road in Williamstown, the Clark features masterworks by Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington, John Singer Sargent and Claude Monet.
But what visitors might not immediately associate with those established names is how deeply both institutions invest in art happening right now.
On Saturday afternoon, a panel of young artists discussed their relationships with art, identity and technology as part of MASS MoCA’s “Technologies of Relation” exhibition, which opened that evening. The artists represented a broad range of cultural backgrounds, drawing on ancestry while exploring the future of art and technology.
The work itself ran the gamut: wax relief paintings, stained glass, interactive video and sculptural installations. One immersive piece automated the traditional Armenian practice of reading fortunes from coffee grounds. Particularly striking were Roopa Vasudevan’s hand-drawn QR codes and Taeyoon Choi’s large-scale weavings of binary code.
Opening the same night was Zora J. Murff’s “RACE/HUSTLE.” Through photographs, paintings and installations, Murff explores the wide-ranging and sometimes violent implications of being Black in America today. Each piece — whether confronting the rise of white supremacy or examining stereotypes imposed on Black communities — carries razor-sharp visual commentary designed to unsettle.
Pelenakeke Brown’s “Reverb” (detail) at Mass MoCA. D.H. Callahan
On Sunday, the Clark continued the contemporary thread. A small exhibition of work by Raffaella della Olga, titled “Typescript,” features intricate patterns created using a typewriter on varied paper surfaces. The effect seems almost impossible until viewers watch a video of della Olga loading her typewriter with 140-grit sandpaper and typing in a hypnotic rhythm. Though the typewriter is considered obsolete technology, she continues to find new applications for it, completing some of the works in recent months.
Next door in the Clark auditorium, HUB New Music performed works written specifically for its unusual instrumentation: violin, cello, clarinet and flute. While that combination may not stand out to casual listeners, relatively little classical repertoire exists for it. The ensemble regularly commissions composers to expand the possibilities.
The results were striking. From the opening notes of Francisco del Pino’s “Passacaglia,” the quartet’s command and layered repetition pulled unexpected emotion from the audience.
After three pieces came the world premiere of Daniel Wohl’s “Mirage,” a roughly 25-minute work accompanied by digital blips, static and electronic textures evoking radio transmissions and UFO lore. Hearing four virtuoso musicians extract entirely new sounds from traditional instruments echoed the weekend’s larger theme: old tools made new again.
Like della Olga’s typewriter, Vasudevan’s QR codes or Murff’s charged imagery, the performances demonstrated that contemporary art often grows from familiar materials — reimagined.
The old masters will always draw visitors to these institutions. But when living artists command equal attention, this quiet corner of the Berkshires feels less like the middle of nowhere and more like a creative epicenter.
D.H. Callahan is a voice actor, creative director and trail steward. He lives with his artist wife in West Cornwall, Connecticut.
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