http://leisure.newstimeslive.com/news/u ... id=1016168

Immigrant advocates outraged


DANBURY – Advocates enraged



over the federal roundup of illegal immigrants at Kennedy Park last week announced a protest march Saturday to urge freeing those they called the "Danbury 11."

"People immigrate to this country with the hope of offering their family a better future, not to face persecution, incarceration and deportation," Wilson Hernandez, a member and past president of the Ecuadorean Civic Center, said at a news conference Wednesday in front of Danbury City Hall announcing the march.

The march is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Kennedy Park and lead to City Hall, where the protest will take place.

On Sept. 19, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested 11 Ecuadorean day laborers looking for jobs at Kennedy Park.

ICE agents stopped an unmarked van and the illegal immigrants, looking for work, got into the van. They were taken to the Danbury Police Department, then transferred to Hartford for questioning before being locked up in Boston, said Alissa DeRosa, a representative of the Danbury Peace Coalition. She did not cite a source of the information.

"They have not yet been formally charged and have not been able to speak with their families," DeRosa said. "ICE intimidates and harasses the immigrant community," she charged.

Though many of the speakers denounced Mayor Mark Boughton – a long-time supporter of tougher enforcement of immigration laws – the city did not order the operation, Boughton said, as ICE was already on the way.

"I’m not sure what they’re protesting; that federal law is being enforced?" Boughton said. "It’s a federal government operation. It’s bad public policy to have laws on the books that are not enforced."

The arrests were part of a federal program called "Return to Sender," in which sting operations are occurring across the country, Boughton said. ICE notified the Danbury Police Department they would be coming to Danbury two weeks earlier, but declined to provide the date they would arrive.

After illegal immigrants at Kennedy Park were allegedly darting out in front of traffic and declined to stop doing so when a Spanish-speaking, uniformed city police officer asked them to, the police asked ICE to come immediately, said Boughton.

Boughton recently addressed a conference in Brazil on immigration reform, commenting on the strain illegal immigrants have put on Danbury, such as school overpopulation, the bulk of day laborers and overpopulated rental housing.

Immigration laws should be changed, said the Rev. Hector Leon of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Danbury.

"If this situation continues, it will become a racial situation," Leon said. "This could have the outcome of hatred."

The ICE roundup will chase the immigrant population into the shadows, said Democratic Common Council member Lynn Taborsak.

"In the shadows, they won’t seek health care for fear of deportation," Taborsak said. "They won’t report being robbed or assaulted. They won’t report being cheated by a contractor."


Contact Fred Lucas


at flucas@newstimes.com


or at (203) 731-3358.



http://leisure.newstimeslive.com/opinio ... id=1016194

Kennedy Park
City officials should find an alternative site

Sep 28 2006


Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton is back from an immigration conference in Brazil, and says he has learned there will be more federal enforcement of immigration laws in Danbury.

Last week, 11 illegal immigrants from Ecuador were picked up by federal agents at Kennedy Park, a gathering place for day workers.

That's not going to put much of a dent in the thousands of illegal immigrants who live in Danbury. Nor does it address the problems caused by the morning gathering in Kennedy Park.

Not all of the workers who stand in Kennedy Park are illegals. Many are in this country legally. Some are even American citizens.

They wait for construction and landscaping contractors to drive by looking to hire people to work a day or two.

Police Chief Al Baker says he called federal immigration officials about the situation in Kennedy Park because, as he jogged by the park, he saw day workers darting into traffic as contractors arrived.

Those traffic problems have been going on for years. The Kennedy Park gathering also creates other problems, such as littering and sanitary issues.

The city has assigned police officers to supervise what goes on, but Kennedy Park is simply not the place for a gathering of day workers. The day workers were pushed into Kennedy Park years ago because city officials didn't want them gathering on Main Street.

The construction of a condominium complex on Kennedy Avenue will eventually push the day workers out of Kennedy Park because construction equipment and day workers would be too dangerous a mix in such a confined area.

Where will they go? The city has no plans for the next gathering spot. Nor do leaders of the immigrant community who have been so vocal in support of the day workers.

The U.S. Constitution and numerous federal court rulings protect the right of people to gather and speak, to each other or to contractors.

Many communities in many states have grappled with this problem of day-worker gatherings. Usually what works best is a public-private partnership. A hiring location is provided, usually on privately owned land, with the agreement of public officials that the location is workable. This allows contractors and day workers to connect without causing traffic, litter and sanitary problems.

A new site would have to be accessible to the downtown where many of these workers live, or the effort would fail and the workers and contractors would end up back in Kennedy Park or on Main Street.

The mayor and immigrant community leaders, who have been at odds, should come together to find a solution to the problems in Kennedy Park. That would be a positive development for the city, much more positive than having these leaders trading criticisms.

The day-worker gathering in Kennedy Park is unsafe and not an activity that should be encouraged at the gateway to the downtown.

The enforcement of immigration laws is a federal responsibility. But siting and controlling the day-worker gathering is within the authority of the city.




http://neighbors.newstimeslive.com/news ... id=1016241

Names of the ‘Danbury 11’ released


DANBURY — The Danbury Police Department released the names of the 11 day laborers who were arrested Sept. 19 by agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The men, who all are Ecuadorean, were transported to Hartford for further processing by ICE officials after they were arrested.

Advocates upset over the arrests announced Wednesday that they will hold a protest march this Saturday.

Police Capt. Robert Myles said the police currently are working with march organizers to to ensure the protest does not cause any safety or traffic concerns. It’s unknown at this time how many officers will be present at the march, Myles said.

If marchers are on a city street, they do not need a permit, but if they are on a state road, they do need permission from the state, Myles said.


Here are the 11 arrested:

Focilon Lliuspe, 37

Juan Barrera, 42

Isacc Maldononado, 36

Carlos Simbanach, 24

Rodolfo Cabrera, 41

Jose Duma, 22

Nicolas Sanchez, 27

Daniel Chavez, 30

Manuel Alvaraein, 24

Jose Fernandez, 20

Edgar Predrouan, 29