Maura has deep roots in Massachusetts. Her parents both grew up in Newburyport. Her maternal grandparents met in Gloucester, where her grandfather worked on the fishing docks and her grandmother, whose ancestors settled on the Parker River in Newbury in 1636, went to nursing school. Her paternal grandparents came from Ireland and worked as a domestic worker and a janitor.
Maura was born at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in 1971 while her father served as a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service, and later as a civil engineer in the Environmental Protection Agency. Her maternal grandmother was determined that her grandchild be born on Massachusetts soil. She traveled through a snowstorm down Route 1, flew to Maryland, snuck into the delivery room wearing her nursing outfit, and placed a bag of soil from a family woodlot in Byfield below the delivery bed so that Maura could be “born” over Massachusetts. What mothers and grandmothers will do!
Maura has been a leading advocate for immigrant rights. As Governor, she will ensure that all Massachusetts families can thrive.
One of the first steps Maura took as AG was to create an Advisory Council on New Americans to help address the needs of the state’s immigrant and refugee communities. She also instituted a language access plan and a first-of-its-kind Division of Community Engagement to lead trainings on immigrant rights, tenant rights, and more in different languages in communities across the state.
Her team has stood up for the rights of the DREAMers, temporary protected status holders, and asylum seekers, successfully challenged President Trump’s xenophobic policies that targeted immigrants and refugees, and advocated for a fair and accurate Census that counted every person, regardless of legal status. She also launched an investigation that found that the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office violated the civil rights of federal immigration detainees. After her office published a report about these violations, the Department of Homeland Security terminated its contracts with the Sheriff. Maura also put out multiple advisories on immigrant rights in the context of scams, higher education, COVID-19, and food pantries. Just recently, she secured a settlement with an immigration attorney running an asylum scam in the Brazilian community.
As Governor, Maura will continue to defend our immigrant communities and work to find meaningful ways to make sure everyone in our state feels safe, welcome and has the tools needed to thrive. That includes: