New Haven Independent

Those were some of the specific suggestions made at a gathering on immigration Tuesday night for how to help newcomers in town.

Some 50 people showed up for last night’s Immigration Forum at the Bethesda Lutheran Church on Whitney Ave. The event, organized by Elm City Congregations United (ECCO), featured presentations by five different panelists, including the Rev. Jim Manship, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church.

ECCO has been at the forefront of New Haven’s nationally-watched efforts to embrace immigrants, including undocumented workers, into the community rather than opposing them or trying to have them deported. So rather than featuring heated debate, Tuesday’s forum featured discussion of New Haven’s strides so far and ideas for how citizens can take further steps.

Predictably, one of the first topics discussed was the municipal ID cards that the city began to issue this summer. This conversation was started by a very direct question from the audience: “The ID cards were issued to try to help immigrants. Has this helped?”

Rev. Manship answered that on a practical level, the cards have helped immigrants feel that they belong to this community and can approach police for help when necessary.

According to Michael Wishnie, a Yale law professor who has represented New Haven immigrants arrested in a June sweep by federal agents, undocumented immigrants have traditionally been targets for robbery and mugging. Such immigrants often carry large amounts of cash (because they cannot open bank accounts), and after they are robbed, they are usually afraid to go to the police, since they don’t have identification. The new municipal ID cards address both of these problems.

Later there were some questions from the audience about what ordinary citizens could do to help the cause of immigrant rights. Terry Freeman, of the St. Rose Education Task Force spoke about how the church is raising money for students who can’t receive financial aid because they are undocumented.

David Moakley, representing the International Union of Operating Engineers, urged the audience to “Call your legislators and tell them to decriminalize work.” He cited the fact thatsaid many employers are willing to hire illegal immigrants because, even after paying the fines if they get caught, they can still make a profit by paying immigrants miniscule wages.

Moderator Angel Fernandez-Chavero from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven observed that the event had been composed of “mostly softball questions.” He called that a sign that there is a clear consensus among ECCO on immigration. Rev. Manship remarked that he had hoped for a little more tension. “Tension is growth,” he said. He also mentioned that he would have liked for some more concrete action plans to have come out of the meeting. He listed some of the actions that St. Rose has taken on the issue of immigration, including demonstrations, dialogue sessions, and leadership trainings. He was asked if he thought that St Rose could be an example to other churches. “Agitator,” he said firmly, “agitator.”