Thread: New Haven validates its illegal residents-first in the U.S.

from the July 17, 2007 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0717/p02s01-ussc.html
New Haven opts to validate its illegal residents
The Connecticut city begins issuing ID cards July 24 to undocumented immigrants, a first in the US.
By Caitlin Carpenter | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor

New Haven, Conn.
At a time when a rising number of states and cities are cracking down on illegal immigrants, New Haven, Conn., is reaching out to them with a unique perk: an ID card.

Besides serving as identification for bank services and if police ask for ID, the card can be used at municipal locations such as libraries, beaches, and parks – and as a debit card for city parking meters and at 15 downtown shops.

Cities – and critics – across the country are watching closely as New Haven prepares to hand out its first batch of cards July 24. The idea: integrate illegal immigrants into the community, protect them from crime that can happen because of a lack of documentation, and encourage them to be more willing to report crimes to police. Reaction to the first-of-a-kind program has been swift and sharp, illustrating the wide divide in US public opinion over the issue.

"We're the only city nationwide to have this program, so it's an opportunity we have to take to be a part of normal life in the community," says Maria, an illegal immigrant living here, who plans to pick up her card when it's available next week. She says illegal immigrants are targeted by muggers, who know they carry cash because they can't get a bank account without an ID.

But New Haven's move has also prompted protests.

"The city is selling out legal Americans," says Bill Farrel, one of a dozen members of the Yankee Patriot Association, which is a New England coalition opposing illegal immigration. The members demonstrated outside City Hall July 1 carrying American flags and wearing hard hats. "The illegals are taking jobs from guys that wear these kinds of hats."

Illegal immigrants account for 15,000 of New Haven's population of 120,000, according to Mr. Farrel, and he expects thousands more will come after the ID program gets under way. That's a theme that critics of the New Haven plan have taken up nationally.

For example, the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has distributed fliers in 40 states mocking the proposal by urging illegal immigrants to go to New Haven. The fliers included a map with directions to the city.

"Let a few thousand more go there and use their [social] services until New Haven needs to ask for federal assistance," says William Gheen, president of the group, based in North Carolina. The city is committing a felony by abetting illegal immigrants and "any terrorists among them," he charges.

Politically, New Haven's plan goes against the grain. For example, 48 state-level bills regarding immigration and documentation were introduced this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. All 48 looked to restrict illegal immigrants. At the local-government level, 100 of 130 immigration ordinances introduced last year were called "anti-immigrant" in an online database of Fair Immigration Reform Movement, which advocates immigrants' rights and is based in Washington.

In New Haven, the main motivation for the ID cards was public safety, says Kica Matos, the city's community services administrator and a main initiator of the program. One reason the illegal immigrant community doesn't trust the police and doesn't come forward to report crimes is that police invariably ask to see ID.

The proposal sailed through the board of aldermen last month 25 to 1. The mayor was supportive. Yale Law School provided legal representation and advice. Local immigrant-rights groups lobbied for it,

"We're small enough that this issue is very much in people's consciousness," Ms. Matos says, "They live and work with undocumented immigrants.... Everyone is somewhat touched by them in their everyday life."

The card isn't just for illegal immigrants, either, Matos says. It was designed to be useful for all residents, she adds, so it wouldn't be regarded as a "scarlet U" for "undocumented."

The city has fielded calls from governments and immigrant-rights groups in New York, San Francisco, and Washington State, she says. "There's a lot of buzz around the card, but they're waiting for us to get our program rolling."

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And, is tax payers' money being used for this? I would love to find out the source of their funding. If it's coming from the feds we could try to stop it.

Unless, of course, we'd prefer to watch New Haven crash and burn under the weight and strain of illegals overrunning the state.

I think I read that someone donated the money for the machine and a year of supplies.

It really doesn't matter if it cost them or not, they shouldn't be harboring illegal aliens.

Dixie

Just wait until thousands more move in and overcrowd the schools, turn parts of the town into trashy barrios, and most of all.............DRAIN THE TAXPAYER'S POCKETS.

New Haven prepares to hand out its first batch of cards July 24.
Isn't that a federal issue ?

[quote="Dixie"]I think I read that someone donated the money for the machine and a year of supplies.

It really doesn't matter if it cost them or not, they shouldn't be harboring illegal aliens.

Dixie[/quote




Oh no, I agree 100%, they shouldn't be harboring illegals. I was just hoping that we weren't helping them do it.

I dont think we should wait. I think we should start a campaign pressuring congress and the DOHS to shut this program down, not doing so could set a dangerous precedent.

I think we Texans should get the word to those laid off and soon to be laid off, illegals of Bo's, down in Nacogdoches, that they are welcome in New Haven.

I don't think I know a soul down there, though.

Post it everywhere on the net and at parks, grocery stores , etc.... Illegals are welcome in New Haven. They want them there. Fine. We will get the word out.

Originally Posted by nntrixie

I think we Texans should get the word to those laid off and soon to be laid off, illegals of Bo's, down in Nacogdoches, that they are welcome in New Haven.

I don't think I know a soul down there, though.

Illegal immigrants to get ID cards in Connecticut

By Lucy Nalpathanchil
Reuters
Sunday, July 22, 2007; 8:36 AM



NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (Reuters) - As many U.S. cities and states arrest illegal immigrants in raids and toughen laws against them, a Connecticut city is offering to validate them under a controversial, first-in-the-nation ID card program.

Starting Tuesday, New Haven will offer illegal immigrants municipal identification cards that allow access to city services such as libraries and a chance to open bank accounts.

Supporters say the cards will improve public safety and give undocumented workers protections now afforded legal residents. Critics contend it will unleash a flood of illegal immigration, straining services and wasting taxpayer money.

New Haven officials overwhelmingly approved the program last month in a 25 to 1 vote.

Backers and detractors alike say the program appears to fill a vacuum after Congress failed to act on immigration reform, leaving many towns and cities to struggle with how to deal with a growing undocumented population.

Kica Matos, a leader of local Latino advocacy group Junta for Progressive Action, said undocumented workers are often targeted by thieves and robbed because they carry cash, a result of not being able to open a bank account.

"Part of the reason they can't open bank accounts is because they don't have forms of identification that were valid," she said.

She said two banks had already agreed to accept the new city card, which will be offered to all New Haven residents, as legitimate identification sufficient for opening an account.

Matos estimates 3,000 to 5,000 illegal immigrants live in the city of 124,000 people, many from Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala.

Yale University Law School, based in New Haven, helped research the city's idea and volunteered legal services. Several immigrants' rights groups also helped build up local support for the identification cards.

PROTESTS

Opponents hope to rally the public against it. Southern Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Reform says the ID cards will change "the entire country as we know it" and is organizing a protest on Tuesday at city hall.

"There are millions of illegal aliens right around us that when these ID cards are available to them, they will rush to them and get some identification that will allow them to go to other cities," said Ted Pechinski, who leads the group.

North Carolina-based Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has circulated a flier in 40 states urging illegal workers to move to New Haven, said its president William Gheen.

"Maybe New Haven needs to learn, if they want the illegals, then they'll get the illegals," he said.

His flier, in English and Spanish, says: "Come to New Haven CT for sanctuary. Bring your friends and family members quickly."

Officials in several cities including New York and San Francisco have expressed interest in possibly starting similar programs, said Matos at Junta for Progressive Action.

The new ID, she added, does not easily identify a person as an illegal immigrant. "That is the last thing that we want to have happen," she said. The card was created with several features to appeal to all residents, including a debit component and access to city services such as parks.

Fatima, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, said she is eager to apply for the card. "The ID will help me because it's a way to be in this country and get people to know who you are, especially for people who crossed the border and lost their papers," she said. "I feel safe here in New Haven."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00285.html