Thread: Group may urge illegal aliens to make city their destination

06/14/2007
Group may urge illegal aliens to make city their destination
Mary E. O'Leary , Register Topics Editor

NEW HAVEN — New Haven continues to be a lightning rod over illegal immigration as local mayoral candidates and national organizations weigh in on its planned municipal ID program, with one group threatening to put up fliers on the Internet directing immigrants to move to the city.
William Gheen, head Americans for Legal Immigration, said his group contacted its 11,000 members, as well as a coalition of similar organizations, urging the undocumented to take advantage of the ID card. The group's Web site could not be accessed Wednesday.


"You want undocumented workers, we'll send you the undocumented workers," said Gheen, who is also contemplating advertising in Spanish-language papers and particularly targeting New York. "Come to New Haven, Ct. for sanctuary! Bring your friends and family members quickly!" the flier says.

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and the New Haven Board of Aldermen approved the ID card program as a way to incorporate the estimated 15,000 illegal immigrants into the city's civic life and enhance public safety by providing IDs to encourage cooperation with police on reporting crimes.

Citizens and undocumented residents are being urged to sign up next month for the photo ID that will provide access to libraries and parks, while the city will lobby local banks to accept the card as documentation needed to open accounts.

"There is no benefit extended by this card other than to acknowledge that you are a member of a community to which you have responsibilities, which has responsibilities to you," DeStefano said. He said immigrants come to a town because of family and jobs and not because of an ID card.

As for the coalition of anti-illegal-immigration groups, the mayor said "I think it is important to see these groups for what they are. Some of them are hate inspired individuals who for whatever motivation feel the need to express their hatred publicly."

Meanwhile, 11 of New Haven's restaurants will donate 10 percent of their take today, while workers will donate tips, to a fund for families of 35 immigrants who were arrested in two recent raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Also, in Boston Wednesday, Judge Francis Cramer reduced the $15,000 bails requested by ICE for two of the women arrested, to $1,500 for one and $3,500 for the other. Christopher Lash of the Yale Law School, who represents them, said bail can be reduced when a person has ties to the area and is not considered a danger to the community.

Eighteen others will have bail hearings in Hartford today before Virginia immigration Judge Garry Malphrus, sent there to take the place of Judge Michael Straus, who recently underwent surgery. Malphrus has been associate director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, as well as a Republican aide on two Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittees.

Several pro-immigrant organizations wrote to Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, questioning propriety of a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, in which 31 illegal immigrants were arrested in New Haven and one in West Haven. Three more were arrested this week in a raid on a North Haven deli.

Support for the ID program came from the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza and the National Immigration Law Center. ICE has said it is temporarily suspending any raids in the area.

Here, Democratic mayoral contenders James Newton and Willie D. Greene Wednesday condemned the ID program, with Newton calling it a "cruel hoax" on illegal immigrants that gives them false hopes, while Greene accused DeStefano of "trying to subvert federal law and policy."

Newton said "illegal immigrants have made a knowing choice to wrongfully enter the country in clear violation of our laws" and said IDs send the wrong message, "namely it is OK to break the law."

Greene said the cards will turn the city into a "national sanctuary for illegal immigrants," a sentiment shared by Newton. "What will we do when hospital, police and fire services are stretched beyond our capacity to respond?" Newton asked.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal Wednesday said many cities issue ID cards for specific services.

"State and federal law does not prohibit towns and cities from issuing identification cards for use within their borders relating to city facilities or services," Blumenthal said. It would not allow access to state or federal benefits, which the city card does not claim to provide.

DeStefano said criticisms by Newton and Greene represent a difference of vision between himself and his Democratic opponents. "I see New Haven as a place that is defined by values like hard work, acceptance of one another and responsibility to one another. I think that is a good vision for a community to define itself," he said.

Restaurants participating in today's fund-raiser include: Bespoke, Roomba, Union League Cafe, Cafe Adulis, Thali, Kudeta, Barcelona, Pacifico, Mezcal, Ibiza and Vito's Deli. From 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, the last day Roomba will be open, all proceeds from a simplified menu of burritos and mojitos will go to the immigrant fund. St. Rose of Lima Church donated staples to Junta for Progressive Action for a food pantry for the families, as has Claire's Cornucopia Restaurant.

http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm ... 0581&rfi=6

oh yeah!!!
Did that make the site crash on Wednesday?

The site crashed due to a storm.

Sure am curious how the citizens of New Haven feel about their mayor.

All we want is to see our laws enforced, that doesn't make us a hate group. That argument is so old and passe.