Junta for Progressive Action
Mary E. O’Leary , Register Topics Editor
NEW HAVEN — An hour’s drive from Danbury, in New Haven, where almost a quarter of citizens are Latino, the contrast in attitudes toward the undocumented population couldn’t be more stark.
It starts at the top with Mayor John DeStefano Jr., a second generation American
"I am all for extending the same benefits and opportunities to these folks that were extended to my grandparents," he said.
As for deputizing police to act as immigration agents, DeStefano said no such request will ever come out of New Haven.
"In the process you will collapse our economy and paint with a broad brush immigrants to this country under the guise of people’s fears about terrorism," he said.
In fact, the police are weighing a policy that would specifically prevent their involvement in immigration matters.
DeStefano’s response to these issues is visceral. Fears about anarchists at the beginning of the 20th century fed the execution of Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, he pointed out. "I don’t think it is a part of American history that we should be proud of or should repeat," he said.
As for Danbury’s problems with illegal apartments, DeStefano said that’s the same issue faced by most suburban towns that fail to provide entry level housing. "The problem isn’t these people. They are a convenient scapegoat for people’s fears and ignorance."
Funneling ideas to City Hall on the needs of immigrants, and specifically the undocumented, is a network of advocates with firsthand knowledge of their situations or legal backgrounds, with Yale Law School students tapped as a resource.
While it is hard to pin down the numbers of this transient, largely invisible population, Kica Matos, executive director of Junta for Progressive Action, estimated it could be as high as 10,000 with up to half of them living in Fair Haven.
She said one local parish priest estimated that five illegal immigrants arrive in New Haven each day.
"The numbers are growing significantly and it’s the pattern that immigrants usually have, you go to the place where you know somebody," said Matos, who was a federal criminal defense attorney for more than a decade.
New Haven apparently has the highest concentration of people from Tlaxcala, Mexico of anywhere in the world.
Mayor Mark Boughton of Danbury estimates the numbers in his city could be as high as 15,000, a figure he is working to verify as he makes a case for more school aid and other resources.
DeStefano, who is also running for governor, likes the Tennessee model, a state which offers special driver licenses for the undocumented, something that is supported by national police associations for road safety purposes.
"I think there is a cost to not doing it that is far greater," as immigrants will continue to drive with or without licenses or insurance, said the mayor.
New Haven’s own agenda is safety driven with good police relations a top priority, as well as enforcement of wage laws through the police fraud division. To lower the number of immigrants being robbed, Junta also asked the city to help bring banks on board to allow the undocumented to open accounts.
Their research shows Social Security numbers are not necessary to open a non-interest bearing account.
"Absent bank accounts, immigrants hold a great deal of cash and therefore become victims," DeStefano said.
A possible city identification card, which would be available to the undocumented, is also under review.
Among the constellation of advocates is John Jairo Lugo, 39, of New Haven, who was granted political asylum for his student activism in Colombia, but only after some tough years as an undocumented laborer and what he said was racist treatment in upstate New York.
A worker at Community Mediation, most of his free time is spent advocating for workers who get paid with bad checks or are kept waiting weeks for reimbursement.
"Every day I get a call from somebody," he said.
Lugo just returned from Arizona, where he was able to talk to children, one as young as 5 years old, who had been caught at the border. "It was pretty painful," he said of the experience.
President of Unidad Latina En Accion, Lugo serves with Secundo Aguayza, a native of Ecuador, who started his own taxi service, Ecuamex Taxi, in New Haven and acts as a roaming ambassador to the immigrants he encounters round the clock.
Mostly his advice centers on not being afraid of the authorities, who are not interested in their status.
"If you have any problems, just call," he tells them.
"We want to make the city safe for everyone here," said Police Chief Francisco Ortiz.