BOSTON — As the Senate resumes debate on a $1.4 billion housing bond bill, immigrant rights advocates are calling on lawmakers to reject a proposal that will align state public housing requirements with federal standards, excluding several categories of immigrants from the public benefit. 

“This is a divisive amendment. It’s going to re-traumatize vulnerable populations, including domestic violence victims, Haitian earthquake survivors, crime victims, torture victims, people who would be eligible for a status if only they could access a safe situation,” Shannon Erwin, state policy director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, told the News Service as about two dozen activists headed into the capitol to lobby lawmakers.