DeStefano to Immigrants: We’re Not The Feds
by Paul Bass | June 28, 2006 2:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
In the wake of a police raid on undocumented workers that contradicted City Hall’s promises to immigrants and sent tenants fleeing from their home, Mayor John DeStefano Wednesday said he’s ordering a new written policy to prevent such incidents in the future.
The raid took place June 7. It began as a city inspector’s visit to an Elm Street house where undocumented workers were crowded in dangerous living conditions. When the landlord showed up, and a cop was called, the visit turned into a raid on the tenants themselves. The officer demanded to see the tenants’ legal papers. Some fled out a back door with their belongings (top photo). A graduate student on hand had a video camera rolling; that appeared to put the officer on the spot. Click here to read an eyewitness account of the raid by reporter Tess Wheelwright.
The raid unsettled not just the immigrant tenants but immigrant rights activists as well. That’s because Mayor DeStefano and Police Chief Francisco Ortiz had previously pledged, publicly, not to have cops review immigrants’ legal papers, inquire into their status, or turn information over to federal immigration authorities. They made that promise to allay fears among the city’s fast-growing immigrant population, Latin Americans. Undocumented workers are hesitant to contact the police when they are robbed or otherwise victimized by crime, because they worry that police will report them to the feds. That has made them particularly vulnerable to muggers and rip-off artists.
Chief Ortiz has repeatedly refused to comment on the June 7 raid or on what the city police’s policy actually is.
Asked about the incident and policy last week, DeStefano said he hadn’t heard about the raid. He promised to look into it.
He did, and offered a response in an interview Wednesday.
His original promise to immigrants stands, he said. Reporting illegal immigrants to the feds would be “counterproductive to an effective community policing program,” DeStefano said.
“Our policy is perhaps not as well as articulated as it needs to be,” he said. “Our personnel are not as trained as they should be.
“Our policy is these [cases of illegal entry into the country] are civil violations. They’re not criminal violations. These civil violations are not something we have a responsibility or an intention to report to federal authorities. Clearly we need it be a written policy. We need to train to it.”
He said the city will start working on that written policy, making sure it “has a firm foundation in law.”
As mayor and as a gubernatorial candidate, DeStefano has made sometimes passionate remarks in defense of immigrant rights.
Kica Matos of Junta For Progressive Action applauded the mayor’s remarks Wednesday.
“I’m heartened to hear that this policy is finally going to take effect,” she said. “Anything short of a policy of non-enforcement of civil immigration violations would be inconsistent with New Haven’s community policing.”
Matos, who has researched the issue, said 92 police departments across the country have spoken out against enforcing federal civil immigration laws. She said 68 municipal and state government entities have enacted formal policies to that effect. Costa Mesa, Cal., deputized its cops to hound immigrants.
Share this story
Comments
Posted by: Jack | July 5, 2006 12:06 AM
Ah, I'm a card-carrying far leftwing Democrat, but I am not happy with New Haven's immigrant policy. Illegal is illegal, and our police should not turn a blind eye (only) when it is politically correct to do so. I've noticed that over the past few months, it's become more common in the media to cast illegal immigrants in the U.S. as somehow morally/ethically heroic for just being here-- and none of that is the point, is it?
If an illegal immigrant is being exploited, then the police should have an opportunity to make two arrests, not one. If the exploited immigrant then chooses not to summon the authorities for fear of his or own criminial behavior, that is his or her choice-- and the consequence of being here illegally, for which our elected officials have no responsibility (sympathy is entirely a private matter).
Posted by: Bill | August 18, 2006 3:37 PM
The people of New Haven should file a civil suit against the Police Department and the City of New Haven. Not processing illegal aliens violates our right to National Security.
Sorry, Comments are closed for this entry
Sections
Neighborhood News
Special Sections
Legal Notices
Some Favorite Sites
- 5 Snacks After 10
- Abram Katz
- African independent
- At Risk for HD
- Back To Basics
- Branford Eagle
- Business NH
- CT Business Litig
- CT Energy Blog
- CT Enviro Headlines
- CT Green Scene
- CT Law Tribune
- CT Local Politics
- CT News Junkie
- CTV
- ChiTown Daily News
- Conn Art Scene
- Cornwall-On-Hudson
- Crosscut
- Design New Haven
- Gotham Gazette
- Josiah Brown
- Karman Turn
- La Voz Hispana
- Laurel Club
- Len's Lens
- Magrisso Forte
- Media Attache
- Media Nation
- Medical Intelligence
- Middletown Eye
- MinnPost
- My Left Nutmeg
- NBC 30
- NH Advocate
- NH Register
- NH Review of Books
- Northampton Media
- OneWorld
- Only In Bridgeport
- Oral History Project
- Pittsburgh Dish
- Reddit NH
- See Click Fix
- Smartpill Design
- SoWhay Sonata
- St. Louis Beacon
- Tom Ficklin
- VT Digger
- Valley Independent Sentinel
- Voice of SD
- WFSB-TV
- WPKN Today
- WTNH
- Yale Daily News
- barista
Government/ Community Links
- ALSO-Cornerstone
- Advocate Calendar
- Ald. Meetings
- All Our Kin
- Alliance Theatre
- Arts & Ideas
- Arts Council
- Artspace
- Bar Assn.
- Beth El Keser Israel
- Bikur Cholim
- Bioregional Group
- Birthright
- BlackinCT
- Boys & Girls Club
- CCA
- CCNE
- CTRIBAT
- Chamber of Commerce
- Children's Museum
- City Point
- City of New Haven
- CitySeed
- Citywide Youth
- Columbus House
- Community Loan Fund
- Community Mediation
- ConnCAN
- DESK
- Dariba Referrals
- Data Haven
- Domestic Violence Srvcs.
- Election Volunteers
- Elm City Cycling
- Elm Shakespeare
- Empower NH
- Ezra Academy
- Fellowship Place
- Food Bank
- Friends of East Rock Park
- GAVA
- Habitat For Humanity
- Halsey Associates
- Hill Health
- Hilltop Brigade
- IRIS
- Info New Haven
- Jewish Federation
- Job Finder
- Junta
- LEAP
- Leeway
- Mary Wade
- Music Haven
- NH Land Trust
- NH Museum
- NH Safe Streets
- NH Scholarship Fund
- NH Youth Soccer
- NH/ Leon Sister City
- NHCAN
- Neighborhood Music School
- New Haven 828
- New Haven Reads
- New Life Corp.
- PAR Newsletter
- Parents Available to Help
- Planned Parenthood
- Police
- Preservation Trust
- Public Allies CT
- Public Library
- Public Schools
- Public Works
- ROOF
- Rail Trains Ecology
- Register Calendar
- Rotary
- SAMA
- STRIVE-New Haven
- Sister Cities
- Social Media Club
- Solar Youth
- Soul-O-Ettes
- South Central Behavioral Health Network
- Squash Haven
- Temple Emanuel
- United Way
- Upper State Street Association
- Urban Design League
- Urban Resources Initiative
- Visiting Nurse Association of South Central Connecticut
- W'ville Synagogue
- W. Square Blockwatch
- WalkBIkeCT
- Westville Chabad
- Westville Renaissance
- Wooster Sq MT
- Workforce Alliance
- Yale Events
- Yeshiva NH Shul
- Yeshiva of NH
- Youth Continuum
Flyerboard
Sponsors
N.H.I. Site Design & Development
NHI Store
Buy New Haven Independent Stuff
News Feed
Movable Type 3.35