New Haven Independent

Posted by: Albert Vosburn | September 27, 2007 5:35 PM

Sign up, one and all. Then, when the federal government shuts down the program and seizes its records, they'll have a treasure trove of names and addresses of admittedly illegal aliens to pursue! Hey -- why not do a FOIA and act NOW!

Posted by: DAFeder | September 28, 2007 12:22 AM

Albert,

If (when) someone makes that successful FOIA request for the names of NH ID card holders, they'll learn the shocking information that I'm proud to be a resident of this city.

I'm happy to hear 3,524 of my neighbors agree with me, and if they're good citizens of New Haven, I don't much care what their citizenship status is. Well, sometimes I care, but for library cards, bank accounts, and parking meters? That just doesn't seem to me like it justifies the invasion of all of our privacy.

David

Posted by: New Haven Tea Party | September 28, 2007 11:09 AM

How many of these folks have signed up for a bank account now that they have their new city ID card? If you believe Kica and the mayor, that's 3524 people who are not carrying around "large sums of cash" who are likely to be be robbed and mugged.

My guess: Few if any. That was never the real reason for this program.

Posted by: fairhavener | September 28, 2007 4:58 PM

I know several people (illegal immigrants) who got the cards. All of them said that the cards are pretty much useless. There is a chip on the back that you can use to load money onto. Then there are a couple places where you can spend that money. None of them went to the library (you can get a library card with a piece of mail). None of them opened a bank account (they already opened accounts with their passports). I was even told that there were already banks that illegal immigrants could open accounts.

Posted by: Dean Moriarty | September 28, 2007 11:52 PM

Previous poster wrote:

"I'm happy to hear 3,524 of my neighbors agree with me, and if they're good citizens of New Haven, I don't much care what their citizenship status is. Well, sometimes I care, but for library cards, bank accounts, and parking meters?"

The problem issue goes a little deeper than that. Do people just not get why homeowners who've invested in this city for years and pay thousands of dollars a year in property taxes are P.O. concerning this. Why should these folks carry the fiscal burden (look at the State of the City's numbers, they surely do) and watch as others get a free pass to not pay taxes. Just another slap in the face from the self-serving Administration in this city. I've said it before. In the future, when local historians analyze this era, DeStefano will be remembered as a joke. That nobody laughed at.

Posted by: anotherjonnyscam | September 29, 2007 1:03 PM

So who gets the unspent cash that is on these "debit cards" when people are deported? Is this another fund raiser for the city?

Posted by: cedarhillresident | September 30, 2007 7:31 PM

I was there on day 1 and I am a proud card holder! I hope more non Latin New Havener's jump on board! Dean I understand your point but then again I don't. "These" people would be living here card or no card. All this card does is offer some safety for them. I just don't understand why that is such a bad thing to people. It will lower some of the crime in the Latin community's. It will make them feel safer to call the police when crimes are committed. And I for one want to know if there is someone out there mugging or rapping people. Now at the least this card will give them a sense of belonging. What can that do?? Make them care about the city more. Is that such a bad thing?? And something I just can't understand is a good group of us come from illegal immigrants. I know my ancestors came over the Canadian boarder. Should I be shipper back because of the potato famine?? Maybe the other half should be shippered back so that some of the lovely stone work down town would never of been done.