(Updated) New Haven does not have to give up the names and addresses of immigrants who signed up for the city’s immigrant-friendly ID, according to a proposed decision issued Wednesday.
The ruling, by a hearing officer of the state Freedom of Information Commission, came in response to a request to reveal the names and addresses of the 5,000-plus people who have signed up for New Haven’s immigrant-friendly municipal ID card since its launch last July.
Journalist Chris Powell and the Community Watchdog Project, a group opposed to illegal immigration led by Dustin Gold (pictured above), originally requested the city to release the names and addresses.
In a decision issued Wednesday, FOIC hearing officer Sherman D. London wrote that the city was right to refuse Gold and Powell’s request, because releasing the names would have created a safety risk. His decision is a proposed ruling; it will be voted on at a hearing on July 9 before the Freedom of Information Commission.
Click here to read the decision. Click here and here to read articles about the FOI battle.
“I’d like to thank the FOI Commission for recognizing the safety threat that would be posed by releasing the information of individuals involved,” wrote Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. in a press statement Wednesday.
London found that “the ID Card program unleashed a level of vitriol and venom aimed at City officials and illegal immigrants that was far beyond mere political disagreement or healthy civic engagement, according to testimony.”
The city “has met its burden of proof that the records are permissively exempt from mandatory disclosure,” London concluded. He ruled that neither the city nor the state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security violated freedom of information laws by refusing to disclose the records.
That means immigrants who trusted the city with their names and addresses would not be exposed.
“We met the burden of proof and look forward to moving past this so that we can
continue to grow this successful program,” said Kica Matos, the city’s Community
Service Administrator, in the city press statement.
“New Haven residents should feel comfortable coming down to City Hall to apply for their Elm City Resident Card with the confidence that their information will be kept safe and secure,” Matos said.
The city did get chided on one point: It should have been more prompt in contacting the Department of Public Works regarding its decision not to disclose the records, London concluded.
Gold, of the immigrant watchdog group, said he plans to object to the decision at the July 9 hearing.
“It doesn’t seem like a full ruling to me,” Gold argued, saying London ruled on the safety-risk exemption, but did not address two other exemptions the city had claimed.
Gold claimed that London “misconstrued the statute” that allows for an exemption due to safety risk. He also took issue with the way London cited excerpts from hateful emails and radio clips to show that officials and immigrants’ lives were in danger — quotes such as “I have my Automatic Rifle ready to go an[d] won’t hesitate to use it to kill these Rodents.”
“Most of the quotes were taken out of context,” Gold argued. He argued the comments should be protected under freedom of speech and did not constitute a credible and imminent threat to individuals’ safety.
I did speak with Melissa Bailey, but I was not quoted in this article. This is premature re-actuation. This is only a proposed decision - not the final decision. We will be in front of the full commission on July 9 to further debate the facts. The full commission makes a decision as a whole, and takes into consideration the decision of the hearing commissioner. Keep posted for the final decision.