Thread: Accident highlights fears of immigrants

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Accident highlights fears of immigrants

By Vesna Jaksic
Staff Writer

April 22, 2006

STAMFORD -- Tensions over the nation's immigration policy sparked a flurry of rumors within the Hispanic community this week about police arresting people lined up at the city's day laborer pick-up zone.

The speculation began swirling Thursday after a truck accident near the intersection of East Elm and South State streets where many day laborers, most of them Hispanic immigrants, gather to find work.

Some people thought the police response was to round up and arrest any undocumented immigrants, said city Rep. Philip Berns, D-16, an immigration attorney who was contacted by several people about the incident.

A Stamford Police Department spokesman said yesterday that the incident was nothing more than a motor vehicle accident.

"There was no organized round-up or anything like that of day laborers and there are no plans for anything like that," Lt. Sean Cooney said.

No injuries were reported during the accident, which involved a dump truck towing a trailer that swiped a car, he said.

But the rumor spread at a time of flaring tensions over immigration issues. Congress has been debating several bills that could decide the fate of many of the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. The legislation has sparked demonstrations throughout the country, including several in the Stamford area.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it plans to crack down harder on employers who hire illegal immigrants.

"With the whole immigration issue going on right now, I think there is a lot of tension that's going on," said Carolina Osario, president of the Hispanic Advisory Council of Greater Stamford.

Berns, the immigration attorney, said it is unfortunate many people who heard the rumor contacted him and other officials instead of directly calling police to find out what happened.

"The rumor is crushed, but what it shows is the hyper-sensitivity, the hyper level of concern, and the lack of quality relationships between authorities in Stamford and the Latino-Hispanic immigrant community," he said.

William Giraldo, a Cove resident who unsuccessfully ran for the Board of Representatives in November, said he too was contacted by several members of the Hispanic community.

"In some ways, it's good to know that people care," he said.

Carmen Torres, a Cove resident who often volunteers to help day laborers, said at least five of them called her after Thursday's accident.

"I'm very concerned about them," she said. "There have been a lot of arrests and incidents happening around the country, so I was thinking, 'Oh God, it's happening here.' "

Oh God I hope so. Hope it starts happening in every neck of the woods!