http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1027400

Boughton on immigration: 'No one is happy'


By Elizabeth Putnam
THE NEWS-TIMES


Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton.
This is the final installment in a four-day series on immigration in greater Danbury. Click here to read all the stories.

DANBURY -- Illegal immigration will undoubtedly be a hot topic in this year's mayoral race, but it remains unclear whether it will play a pivotal role in Mayor Mark Boughton's bid for a fourth term.

Boughton, a Republican, will not say for sure whether he will run for re-election in November, but "at this point, it's likely," he said.

If Boughton does run, then his handling of illegal immigration issues likely will face scrutiny.

Advocates of tougher immigration control say Boughton has created an accommodating environment in Danbury for illegal immigrants, while some leaders from the immigrant community say Boughton has harassed and intimidated immigrants through the enforcement of housing codes, traffic laws and local noise ordinances.

But it likely will be voters who do not represent either extreme that will determine Boughton's political future this year, said Chris Kukk, an associate professor of political science at Western Connecticut State University.

"Boughton is riding the fence, and I don't know if (middle-of-the-road) voters sanction what he's done or what he's doing. But they know that something needs to be done, and they don't know what. They see some action being taken," Kukk said.

If anything, Boughton's stance on illegal immigration helped his re-election in 2005.

In spring 2005, Boughton said illegal immigrants from places such as Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico were taxing the city's housing stock, overloading the hospital and draining the services of the police and fire departments.

In addition to requesting enforcement action from the federal government, Boughton asked that state police be deputized as immigration officers. The initiative ultimately failed -- but not before igniting controversy between City Hall and immigrant groups.

At the same time, the Common Council worked on a neighborhood noise ordinance that was created out of complaints regarding neighborhood volleyball games popular with the city's Ecuadorean community.

Tensions between immigrants and Danbury natives were heightened when an immigration reform group held its inaugural meeting in the city. So many showed up at the meeting, the fire marshal had to turn people away.

Some said the immigration debate in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans would hurt Boughton's re-election bid. But it didn't.

Boughton won roughly 60 percent of the vote in defeating his challenger, Democrat Dean Esposito, in 2005.

Last year, Boughton continued to be outspoken on illegal immigration.

In March, the group he co-founded met in Washington, D.C., to lobby federal officials to reform the nation's immigration policies.

The mayor appointed a committee in May to research a possible ordinance that would require groups to obtain a permit to parade or march in the city just days after thousands of legal and illegal immigrants gathered at Rogers Park to say immigrants are not criminals, and the country's immigration laws need fixing.

Boughton traveled to Brazil in September to discuss immigration issues with U.S. and Brazilian officials as part of a conference on immigration and fraud prevention at the U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo.

Tensions escalated in September with the civil arrest of 11 Ecuadorean day laborers in Kennedy Park. Now, a group of student lawyers from Yale are demanding the Department of Homeland Security disclose records of its involvement in the Sept. 19 arrests of 11 day laborers near Kennedy Park downtown and documents that describe DHS's collaboration with the Danbury Police Department to enforce immigration laws.

Boughton said he's not sure what impact illegal immigration will have on a possible bid for re-election.

"There obviously needs to be more federal enforcement and reform. Nobody is happy," he said.


Contact Elizabeth Putnam
at eputnam@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3411.


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