Feds to descend on Danbury for immigration crackdown
http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1016069
Feds to descend on Danbury
Boughton expects crackdown on illegal immigrants
By Elizabeth Putnam
THE NEWS-TIMES
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DANBURY -- Federal immigration agents likely will enhance their presence in Danbury over the next several months, arresting more undocumented workers and investigating companies who employ them, Mayor Mark Boughton said Monday.
Boughton returned Sunday from a two-day conference on immigration in Brazil where he met representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, State Department, the Brazilian Federal Police and airline officials from America and Brazil. Consulates from Jamaica, Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Paraguay, Panama, Canada and El Salvador also were in attendance.
Through talks with these representatives and through presentations during the conference, Boughton is confident that Danbury is a part of federal investigations in the Northeast that will lead to more illegal immigration roundups.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "is going to do what it's going to do," Boughton said. The Department of Homeland Security "now is taking this seriously, and we likely will see that."
Boughton does not know when or where these crackdowns will occur, but "expect more enforcement," he said.
Danbury's mayor was part of a conference hosted Thursday and Friday by the U.S. Mission in Brazil at the U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo.
Between 60 and 70 people discussed immigration trends between the United States and Brazil and visa distribution in order to better understand the current process and suggest possible change.
Boughton received an invitation last month from officials at the U.S. Consulate to be a guest speaker for a conference session called "The View from America."
The objective was to have a mayor from an American city with a large Brazilian population discuss how legal and illegal immigration has impacted the city.
He addressed the conference Friday, commenting on Danbury's struggles with school population growth, day laborers and overpopulated rental houses.
Boughton also talked about the most recent crackdown in Danbury, which occurred a week ago. ICE arrested 11 Ecuadorean day laborers who were looking for jobs near Kennedy Park.
Franklin Peņa, president of the Ecuadorean Civic Center, said fewer people now are looking for work since Tuesday's arrests, and he isn't surprised that more enforcement likely is coming.
"They want to send a strong message. And once the workers leave, businesses will leave, too," he said.
Elise Marciano, president of the Danbury chapter of the Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control, said she applauds the news and believes going after employers is key to decreasing the number of undocumented workers in Danbury.
"Finally, they are coming to grips with the problem," Marciano said.
Immigration has been a key topic for Boughton, a Republican in his third two-year term, since he began lobbying Congress for immigration reform in 2002.
Boughton also told conference participants about Mayors and County Executives for Immigration Reform, a lobbying group he co-founded that wants secure borders, enforced immigration laws and reimbursement to communities throughout the country for the cost of playing host to so many undocumented people.
The number of immigrants who are here illegally is largely unknown. Estimates of the city's entire illegal immigrant population range from 10,000 to 20,000.
Boughton kept a blog for NewsTimesLIVE while in Brazil. Click here to read it.
Contact Elizabeth Putnam
at eputnam@newstimes.com
or at (203) 731-3411.
