Thread: Immigrants get chilly treatment in Milford

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Immigrants get chilly treatment in Milford
Small Massachusetts town, settled by Europeans, cracks down on waves of newcomers
- Anna Badkhen, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, July 9, 2006



(07-09) 04:00 PDT Milford, Mass. -- In this working-class town built by immigrants from Europe generations ago, some locals have taken to calling the latest arrivals from overseas "the ladder people," for the cranes and ladders on the utility trucks they drive.

Their unfurnished dwellings, where men sometimes sleep five to a room on mattresses thrown on the floor to save rent money, are "mattress houses." Some worry the illegal immigrants bring disease; others say their loud music disrupts the peace on weekends.

Perhaps no place represents the changing face of immigration and its divisive effect in the mostly liberal state of Massachusetts better than Milford, a town of 25,000 people whose economy used to depend almost solely on its granite quarry. Now, nearly every business flanking the 19th century Town Hall on Main Street has a sign in Portuguese or Spanish, catering to the mostly Ecuadoran and Brazilian immigrants who have come to Massachusetts in the past five years.

Many Milford residents, mostly the children and grandchildren of Italian and Irish immigrants, do not appreciate the changes that the latest wave has brought. Town officials have taken steps to deter illegal immigrants from moving to Milford. The latest measure, which came into effect July 1, bans stores from cashing any checks. The move is designed to prevent immigrants who do not have the documents to open a bank account from cashing their earnings.

"It's time to get tough -- they'll get the message," said state Rep. Marie Parente, a Democrat who promotes a firm stance against unchecked immigration.

"It's time to put political correctness second to common sense," added Paul Mazzuchelli, a Milford health official who has pushed for some of the measures.

Such sentiments reflect the unease felt in many small Massachusetts towns in response to the wave of immigrants looking for jobs and homes in less-expensive communities like Milford. While their own Sen. Edward Kennedy is pushing for an immigration reform package that includes a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for many of the nation's estimated 12 million undocumented workers, a majority of his constituents seem to favor a much tougher stance.

"Kennedy?" bristled Parente, who said her constituents feel threatened by the influx of immigrants into their hospitals, schools and workplaces. "He's never gonna face what we have here."

According to a recent Rasmussen Reports poll, 58 percent of Massachusetts residents believe that the United States should enforce border controls before considering the provisions Kennedy favors.

Asked for comment, Kennedy said through his press secretary, Laura Capps: "Our immigration system is badly broken, and the impact of it is felt most strongly on local communities. Across the country, Americans are demanding a federal solution, and Congress must act now."

In the meantime, many immigrants feel the hostility of local residents.

"You live here in fear," said Eliana Dowden, who arrived from Brazil 12 years ago on a tourist visa and remained in the country illegally for eight years until getting married to a U.S. citizen and acquiring legal residency four years ago. "It's not all the immigrants who want to take advantage of this country. I know a lot of people here want to stay here and do the right thing. They just need a chance."

As many as one-fifth of the state's estimated immigrant population of 1 million are there illegally, according to some estimates. They are working in construction and utility companies or at stores and restaurants owned by their compatriots who are in the United States legally. In Milford, which had few foreign-born residents five years ago, at least 10 percent of the population is made up of recent immigrants from South America, most of them undocumented, according to Parente.

"Massachusetts is in the midst of a demographic transition," said Ali Noorani, director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. "Because of the inability of Congress to (find a solution), these towns here feel like it's their problem to solve."

Cambridge, an ethnically diverse university town 38 miles east of Milford, has a dramatically different approach to the problem. In May 2005, local authorities renewed the town's designation as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants and called for a moratorium on raids by federal immigration officials. Nearby Chelsea and Somerville are considering doing the same.

"Immigrant communities are now everywhere," said Elena Letona, director of Centro Presente, a Cambridge immigrant-services group that persuaded the town of 110,000 to renew its status as a sanctuary city, first established in 1985. "We can do a lot to create an environment that respects their human dignity."

But more Massachusetts towns are taking the Milford approach, reflecting the majority anti-immigrant sentiment in the Bay State.

"They're allowing everyone to come in. That should be stopped," said Romana Germagian, 50, owner of Uniglobe Cruise Centers in Milford. "I think pretty soon English is going to be the second language, and we'll be a minority."

Milford's other measures to curb illegal immigration include a rule requiring restaurant owners to show that their employees have passed the medical screening given to all legal immigrants; limiting the number of tenants who can share a dwelling; and establishing a new definition of family as people who are connected by blood ties, and not simply residing together, as the town's ordinances previously defined family. The aim is to prevent more than three immigrant workers from sharing an apartment, said Parente.

One illegal immigrant, who came from Brazil on a tourist visa two years ago and remained in Milford to work at a Brazilian-owned convenience store, said that is the wrong approach.

"If we could get proper documents, do you think we would be hiding and not paying car insurance and living in a slum?" The man, who spoke Portuguese, refused to give his name, fearing that he might be deported. "I want to pay taxes."

But Milford is not the only Massachusetts town to favor such restrictive measures.

In Everett, a town of 38,000 people just north of Boston, the City Council ordered an investigation into the "ever-increasing financial burden" on local taxpayers, which it said was brought on by illegal immigrants using social services for free.

Robert Casimiro, president of the Massachusetts Coalition for Immigration Reform and a resident of Weymouth, south of Boston, wants his town of 53,000 to pass a law permitting municipal contracts to be awarded only to companies that can prove that their employees have the right to work in the United States.

Last month, Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who is considering running for president in 2008, proposed using state troopers to arrest immigrants who don't have the proper documents. Subsequently, the Boston Globe reported that the company the state of Massachusetts pays to clean police headquarters, barracks and other state facilities has employed scores of undocumented immigrants.

"From the governor on down, each official knows that we need immigrants," who make up 17 percent of the Massachusetts workforce, said Noorani. "There's a monumental disconnect between the reality of immigration and the politics of immigration."

E-mail Anna Badkhen at abadkhen@sfchronicle.com.

I can very much relate to this article living in Waukegan, IL -now with a 54% hispanic population. We have had numerous reports of houses with 'matresses everywhere.' On our town site www.waukegan.org a guy said that someone bought a table at his rummage sale. When he asked her what she was going to use it for, her son answered a bed?!

How simple but effective -don't cash checks.

More information for me. I'm going to email our do nothing mayor with Hazelton articles and now this.

Originally Posted by fedupinwaukegan

I can very much relate to this article living in Waukegan, IL -now with a 54% hispanic population. We have had numerous reports of houses with 'matresses everywhere.' On our town site www.waukegan.org a guy said that someone bought a table at his rummage sale. When he asked her what she was going to use it for, her son answered a bed?!

How simple but effective -don't cash checks.

More information for me. I'm going to email our do nothing mayor with Hazelton articles and now this.

FEDUP
I'm so happy that you're already getting solid info to begin to use in your town's struggle! This is one of the reason's why Alipac is so important and your participation is so valued.

When you have time, why not begin to gather a list of your officials names/emails/fax #s so that when necessary, you can post it and have extra "help" - LOL - in your communication efforts.

"If we could get proper documents, do you think we would be hiding and not paying car insurance and living in a slum?" The man, who spoke Portuguese, refused to give his name, fearing that he might be deported. "I want to pay taxes."

And if I could just get CEO pay, I could stop robbing gas stations and seven-elevens.

All I'm asking for here is for something I'm not entitled to. What's so wrong with that?