Recently, residents of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, who displayed yard signs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, have been receiving unsettling postcards. These mailers thanked the recipients for their support and urged them to prepare to host migrant families.
The cards, some of which contained handwritten notes indicating the families’ origins and arrival dates, have sparked concern among recipients who perceive them as a means to confuse or intimidate supporters ahead of the upcoming election.
The postcards featured a generic message expressing gratitude for displaying the yard signs but added a requirement for further assistance.
Some residents shared images of these cards online, revealing that one individual was told they would begin hosting a family of four from Belize shortly before Election Day, while another was informed of hosting a family of two from Nicaragua. This communication has raised alarms, especially given the backdrop of the ongoing immigration debate in the U.S.
The issue of immigration has been a significant focus for former President Donald Trump and his supporters, who have frequently used inflammatory language to describe migrants. Trump’s rhetoric has often portrayed immigrants as threats to public safety and the economy.
Kamala Harris
In Massachusetts, the surge of migrants has led to a shelter crisis, a situation that Governor Maura Healey’s administration has been grappling with for over a year, emphasizing the heightened sensitivity around immigration issues in the state.
Experts have weighed in on the implications of the postcards. Thomas Whalen, a Boston University professor, criticized the mailers as a misguided attempt to disrupt the democratic process, linking them to a broader trend of rising authoritarianism in the U.S.
Similarly, Alexander Theodoridis from UMass Amherst described the postcards as an example of “bush-league trolling” aimed at undermining voter turnout among Harris supporters, drawing comparisons to other deceptive tactics used in elections, such as robocalls misleading voters about candidates.
While immigration is a pressing issue for many voters, polling indicates that a majority of Massachusetts residents support the state’s “right to shelter” law, suggesting a general openness to welcoming migrants.
The controversy surrounding the postcards has raised legal questions, with Whalen expressing concern that the mailers could constitute a violation of the Civil Rights Act by spreading misinformation through the postal system. The U.S. Postal Service stated that although the content of the postcards may be misleading, it does not reach the level of a threat under current laws.
