Thread: Anti-immigration group plans Stamford chapter

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Anti-immigration group plans Stamford chapter

By Vesna Jaksic
Staff Writer

Published August 23 2005


A controversial group that advocates against immigration wants to boost its presence in Connecticut by forming chapters, including one in the Stamford area.

Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, which has been most active in Danbury since forming in April, plans to hold a number of organizational meetings in the fall, including one for Stamford, Greenwich, Darien and Norwalk in October. The group, which opposes illegal and legal immigration, has caused controversy in several Connecticut towns where it has met, prompting protests and the formation of one immigrants' rights group.

Connecticut Citizens hopes to form chapters in Stamford, Stratford, New Haven, Meriden, Torrington, Norwich and New London, co-director Paul Streitz said. Most of the 250 members on the group's mailing list live in Danbury, followed by Waterbury and Hartford, he said.

"The idea was always to be a statewide organization and have chapters in each area that could deal with local problems because the local problems are different in each area," Streitz said.

The organization does not have a headquarters but regularly updates its Web site. Members have had letters published in newspaper editorial pages, contacted elected officials to oppose their immigration policies and protested in front of some of their offices, including that of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.

Its Web site often displays controversial pictures, some of which aim to equate immigrants with terrorists. For example, a picture on the site's home page yesterday showed a London double-decker bus destroyed by a bomb. The organization has posted statistics about crimes committed by immigrants.

The group has been most active in Danbury, where Mayor Mark Boughton recently came under fire for several issues related to the city's fast-growing immigrant population. Boughton has said state police should be allowed to enforce immigration laws, and cracked down on many outdoor volleyball games in Danbury, which are a staple of the Ecuadorian community.

Boughton's actions and the presence of Connecticut Citizens prompted the formation of Dacorim, or Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants. Dacorim members have protested at some meetings of Connecticut Citizens.

Boughton did not return two calls for comment last week. Members of Dacorim could not be reached by phone or e-mail.

Philip Berns, a Stamford attorney who represents immigrants, said Connecticut Citizens is a "racist, anti-immigrant hate group." The group will find interested members in any city, Berns said, but he does not think most Stamford residents will support it.

"There is a small minority of people in Stamford who are going to be very welcoming to the distorted message that immigrants are criminals, that they refuse to become legal, that they refuse to learn the language, that they come here to take, take, take and not give anything," Berns said. "But one of the things that Stamford has that Danbury sadly does not have is we have a mayor who looks at local problems and looks for local solutions to those problems and sees the huge opportunity that the presence of these immigrants gives us."

Streitz denied that his group is racist or that it promotes hatred. Members simply are concerned about the country's immigration laws, he said. The group is not anti-immigrant, he said, but members think the number of immigrants allowed into the United States should be about 65,000 a year, not 1.2 million.

Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said he is familiar with Connecticut Citizens and has read some of its newsletters. While some have made sound arguments for enforcing immigration laws, others have had racist overtones, he said.

"If they come in with a racist model, I don't think they'll last long in Stamford," he said. "I'm very confident that a message of hate is not going to resonate with a significant portion of our population."

I don't know anything about Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, but I know a smear job when I see it and this is a smear job! Typical biased media reporting on the immigration issue. What else would you expect?

Here's another one.

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15075477

Border watchers plan state rallies
Mary E. O’Leary and Carlene Olsen

Opponents of illegal immigration say they plan to hold chapter meetings in several cities throughout the state this fall to rally support in favor of enforcing immigration laws.

Meanwhile, advocates for the undocumented continue to work on creating a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million residents now in limbo.

The local debate resumes as the Bush White House plans a new effort to push immigration reform, balancing the interest of its business supporters, who see a need for more workers, against those emphasizing better border control.

Upping the ante, two Democratic governors, Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Janet Napolitano of Arizona, in what is viewed as partly a cry for help and partly a political move, have declared a state of emergency on their borders with Mexico.

The chapter meetings will serve as an expansion of the Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, a Danbury-based organization that aims to enforce immigration laws, protect the borders and fight amnesty, said Peter Gadiel of the CTCIC.

"It’s a way to get people involved in the entire issue," said Gadiel of Kent, who’s motivated by the loss of a son in the 9/11 New York attacks. "The problem (of illegal immigration) is not limited to one geographic location." Their efforts to date, however, have shown minimal success, with each rally they have sponsored since March, with the exception of the first in Danbury, attracting three times the number of opponents.

Mary Long, one of the founders of the group, said they have more than 100 members on their mailing list, the majority of them from the Greater Danbury area. They plan to come to New Haven in mid-September.

"We don’t know if many people will attend or not, but we will give them the opportunity if they want to," she said.

Long, of Manchester, said their purpose is to fight any state or federal legislation which would give rights to the undocumented.

"It seems the average citizen is more concerned with these things than are our elected officials," she said.

Immigrant advocates see the McCain-Kennedy bill â€â€

Connecticut was a tough place to afford to live back when I left in 1986. They murder you with taxes and rent. I was paying $595 a month for a 1 bedroom apartment in the totally crud section of a depressed crud town. I had a "good" job driving an Armored (money) Truck and I still had to go to the lake, fish and brought home what I caught in order to have enough to eat. I lived about 300 yards from work and only drove the car when I went to the lake or out of town. Rough place to scratch for a job, illegals will not get a very warm reception in most areas. Believe it or not Canadians used to come down illegally and work construction jobs for a few months and high tail it back to the great white north. I remember the unwelcome wagon that used to come to Waterbury for them!!!!