New Haven Independent

Posted by: Questions | March 11, 2008 9:13 AM

Will the consulate be a tax free entity, using space and resources without paying for them?

Will the employees of the consulate be immune to local laws, like paying parking tickets (as in NYC)?

What will be the benefits to New Haven and its taxpayers to have the consulate here?

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 11, 2008 9:21 AM

so who do we send a letter of support to???.....is there an on-line petion to sign???

Posted by: king james V | March 11, 2008 9:37 AM

No no no no no. Not until we have fulfilled our obligation to first take care of our own can we trun our attention to people who have chosen to illegally occupy new haven. our first priority is to ensure everyone of our africian AMERICAN brothers and sisters no longer live as second CITIZENS, we need to secure jobs for the people who've paid for the crimes they've committed, and wish to reenter the workforce, we need to keep our schoools from bursting at the seems.
If mayor john would like to put a dozen or so ecuadorans, maybe five or six ukranians, a couple of people from china and an irish couple for good measure, then i'm cool with that.

Posted by: JackNH | March 11, 2008 9:38 AM

It's one thing for the Mayor to help take care of the illegal immigrants we already have here in New Haven. It's quite another for him to CAMPAIGN to bring more here. What is he thinking??

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 11, 2008 10:35 AM

ok are people not looking at this the same way I am??? First people that go to embassy's are mostly here legally. Second imagine the income that will bring to the city with all the people traveling here to get documents ect. And the prestige that it will bring this city...it may even spark some growth in industry. This is not a step backwards it is a step forwards.

Posted by: on whalley | March 11, 2008 10:42 AM

Those are the same thing JACKNH. You think "taking care" of the illegal population currently here doesn't attract others? You "take care" of one and more follow....

The moment he decided to make New Haven a sanctuary for the illegals the campaign to attract more began. It's impossible to have one without the other. Look at the national amnesty Reagan put on us. All that did was promote a sharp increase in border jumping.

Subsidize something get more of it. Tax something get less of it. It couldn't be any more simple. DeStefano is subsidizing illegal immigration in New Haven. He might not be writing them a check to come here but telling the cops to ignore them is a subsidy all it's own. ...

Posted by: Questions | March 11, 2008 11:02 AM

Cedar,

Take the rose colored glasses off and take a look at the real world. First, clearly from the article both legal and illegal immigrants use the consulate. Second, the Mayor will be the first to complain to the state that we do not get enough state Pilot money to cover what we lose in tax revenue. Third, there will barely be any income, except perhaps for the hotdog carts set up outside. And fourth, as a previous writer stated, why encourage more illegals to our "Santuary" city.

Posted by: charlie | March 11, 2008 11:07 AM

King James, your frustration is completely misguided. The most successful cities in the world roll out the welcome mat for immigrants. Immigrants create jobs, business opportunities and safer streets for all citizens, regardless of their background. If you want a place that doesn't have a lot of immigrants, please go to Youngstown, Gary, Baltimore or Detroit. You can see what people really mean when they say that there are no jobs available. New Haven's economy has rebounded, affecting everyone who lives here, in large part because the city has been able to attract so many new residents.

Bottom line is that we should welcome immigrants and perhaps even consider paying some of them to move here.

Posted by: Fr. Jim | March 11, 2008 11:22 AM

The Italian community had a consulate office here in New Haven many years ago. There is a home in Wooster Square with a plaque commemorating the place. Another consulate in New Haven is a continuation of New Haven's history.

Posted by: True New Havener | March 11, 2008 11:30 AM

Hear Hear Cedarhill!!!

This is great. New Haven as an international city. This will almost certainly be rented space so of course it will pay taxes. If they are going to employ enough people to build or buy a whole building -- well even better, even if tax exempt -- we benefit from the new employer and spin off businesses. But then a wholly owned building seems a bit unlikely.

Would anyone even be concerned if this was the Irish Consulate.

Great cities have international flair and welcome it. Look how Ecuadoreans have opened new businesses along Lombard in Fair Haven. With new communities comes art, culture, businesses, ideas, and new friends.

Get with it, the 20th century is over (much less the 19th). Cities change or they die. New Haven was dying 20 years ago. Tens of thousands of people had already left (we once had 150,000).

Since then we have seen the population rise something like 5,000 to 10,000 people. That rise is the first population increase in New Haven in 50 years. This is a combination of new immigrants and folks who find New Haven interesting and exciting.

Of course we could always return to the good old eighties or early 1990s. Boy that was New Haven's heyday!!

Posted by: Bruce | March 11, 2008 11:39 AM

Not all immigrants are here illegally, nor are they all a strain on our system. If the Ecuadorian government wants to open a consulate to support legal immigrants in CT, why would anyone complain? It seems kind of mean-spirited.

Posted by: DingDong | March 11, 2008 1:17 PM

New Haven should treat this as a honor and welcome an international diplomatic presence here.

Posted by: nutmeg | March 11, 2008 1:39 PM

reality check. ecuador is not going to build a consulate in new haven (a la the usa in iraq). they're probably going to send a couple of functionaries up to new haven (or danbury) once a month to process passports and other services. norwalk has a similar arrangement with the haitian consul, who occupy a small office in norwalk city hall once a month.

Posted by: PrettyCool | March 11, 2008 2:54 PM

I'm from Danbury, and I support the ICE, and hope for it to work in getting rid of tax evaders and criminals.I also support a solution... and legal immigration.

I actually think Danbury is pretty safe... even with these illegal people. Most of them are NOT criminals, and hard-working. A lot nicer than New Haven as a result of good hardworking people. I am excited to see these people make New Haven more friendly and safe. For a long time, I would rather be lost in the South Bronx, than in new haven.

Lets be glad that the majority of these people coming here are GOOD :)

Maybe at some point legal immigrants like doctors, and lawyers would move to new haven too... instead of just gardeners, and general laborers.

We generally do not get scientists and other technical people coming in as We did in the past, so at least New haven will have nice masonary and landscaping.

Please make a consulate. and entice educated people to come to New Haven too.

Posted by: Amerigo McPatriotovich, Esq. | March 11, 2008 3:58 PM

King James,

This article may interest you:
http://actingwhite.blogspot.com/2008/02/acting-white-immigrants-and-black.html

HOW would you ensure that our African-American brothers and sisters no longer live as second class citizens? How about suggesting they don't call their "own" people who work hard in the legitimate economy "white boy"? But the real point is this: What on earth do african-americans have to do with immigrants? NOBODY "DESERVES" to have a job. People have to work for them.

E.g., work on removing the psychological chains now that the physical ones are gone. Work force reentry after incarceration is a separate issue and has my sympathy, but I would encourage avoiding incarceration as a first step -- like so many immigrants, legal and illegal, have managed to do!

Bottom line: the sense of entitlement implicit in your statement is hard to reckon and condescending to the many hard-working african americans who have opted for more conventional work.

Posted by: Jean-Logique Amerigo McPatriotovich, Esq. | March 11, 2008 4:17 PM

King James,

This article may interest you:
http://actingwhite.blogspot.com/2008/02/acting-white-immigrants-and-black.html

How would you ensure that our African-American brothers and sisters no longer live as second class citizens? (How about suggesting that those in the 'hood don't call their "own" people who work in the above-ground economy "white boy"?) But the relevant question is this: What on earth do our African-American brethren have to do with immigrants? Apparently there are jobs -- just ask the immigrants! PS, why are "immigrant-" type of jobs -- unskilled labor, I presume, unless you mean some tech-savvy Indians, but I don't see them in Fair Haven -- why are those thought to be "appropriate" for African Americans? Have you no sense of shame?!)

Let's instead work on removing the psychological chains now that the physical ones are gone. Let's identify as Americans--not in a hyper-nationalistic way, but in a way that allows us not to be chained to the past. [Now, work force reentry after incarceration is a separate issue and has my sympathy, but I would encourage avoiding incarceration as a first step -- like so many immigrants, legal and illegal, have managed to do!]

Bottom line: the sense of entitlement implicit in your statement is hard to reckon with reality, and condescending to the many hard-working americans, african- or not, who succeed in their professions. People get jobs because they work. Not because they're illegal immigrants.

Racism exists today in many forms, familiar and unfamiliar -- but the most damaging is not the most obvious.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 11, 2008 6:15 PM

Questions
My Glasses are not just rose colored they are heart shaped too. :)

PrettyCool
"These people" are doctors and lawyer from all over the world in New Haven proud to say. Yes some are people just starting out. My family (Irish mid 1800's and Italian late 1800's) came here for the American dream with nothing and worked there butts off and made a life for themselves. They took the low wage jobs too. They worked in sweat shops in Norwalk, and masons in New Haven. No different than me working two jobs to support my kids. I respect the undocumented for one reason they come here for all the right reasons, all the reasons my family did. And they don't expect a top paying job right from the get go...they know that hard work and sacrifice is rewarded in time (and maybe not in their life time but in there children's). And at the end of the day a hard worked for dollar is worth more than a regular one because the pride you can hold your head up knowing you earned every penny.

And it is that character that makes me welcome immigrants to our city. and as dingdong said so appropriately it would be an honor to have the consulate here.

True New Havener
did bring up a good point... what are we looking at...an office or a building? PS I think your right about the irish one not being an issue.