New Haven Independent

Immigration Shift? What Shift?

by Paul Bass | June 23, 2006 4:01 PM | Permalink

The city changed its supportive policy toward policing immigrants — but apparently no one told the mayor. Last October Mayor John DeStefano and Police Chief Francisco Ortiz promised not to have city cops act as arms of the federal immigration bureaucracy, inspecting documents of immigrants here illegally or forwarding information about them to federal authorities. Yet the cops did just that during an inspection this month of dangerous living conditions at an Elm Street house full of undocumented workers. Chief Ortiz has refused to comment on the policy change. Asked about it a press conference Friday, DeStefano, who has championed immigrants’ rights, said he knew nothing about the incident or a policy change; he promised to speak to Ortiz and make a public comment. Undocumented workers often hesitate contacting police if they fall victim to crimes, because they fear being deported.

Share this story