Fliers spark call to action
Brazilian activists schedule meeting

By Tanya Pérez-Brennan, Globe Correspondent | September 2, 2007

Ravy Silva, 14, was making a run to pick up his family's mail last Sunday when he spotted about 50 fliers strewn on the floor of Lord Chesterfield Apartments, the Framingham complex where he has lived for the past nine years.

The fliers were written in a crude version of Portuguese and Spanish.

"Warning," the flier read. "Immigration will make a visit to your house soon. You are being watched by us. We know where you live."

An "illegal alien" hot line number was listed at the bottom.

Silva took a flier home to show to his parents.

When his mother, Mara Silva, saw it, she thought the flier was a joke made in bad taste.

"But even if it was just a game, it goes a long way to showing the current climate" for immigrants, she said.

In direct response to the incident, local Brazilian activists have organized a meeting Sept. 13 at the offices of the Brazilian American Association.

Organizers say the meeting is meant to quell the community's fears and lead to the creation of monthly meetings to sustain an ongoing dialogue between police, town officials, and local organizations.

"People make decisions by taking things into their own hands as a way to intimidate," said Ilma Paixão, a local Brazilian activist with the association and a meeting organizer. "That's planting a seed of hate."

The fliers come in the wake of new raids by federal officials on undocumented immigrants.

On Aug. 9, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 27 Brazilian nationals outside of a supermarket in Chelsea in connection with three identity fraud rings.

On March 6, agents arrested hundreds of employees of a leather manufacturer in New Bedford.

When Paixão found out about the fliers, she said, she took her concerns to the Police Department.

The incident is being investigated, but police do not know who is responsible, said Police Chief Steven B. Carl.

"We've seen things over the years," he said. "You get these hate groups [but]. . . we've never had brochures like this."

Lieutenant Paul Shastany, spokesman for the Framingham police, said that whoever is behind the fliers is simply trying to intimidate the immigrant community.

"It's a haphazard attempt at making people nervous," he said.

Both police and town officials urge residents to report seeing anyone distributing or promoting the fliers.

"It's highly objectionable that some individuals or groups . . . would attempt such fear-instilling tactics," said Town Manager Julian Suso.

While community activists declined to speculate about the responsible party, they did acknowledge that anti-immigrant sentiment has grown stronger in recent years.

Jim Rizoli, who, along with his brother Joe hosts the weekly local access cable TV show "Illegal Immigration Chat" and who heads the group Concerned Citizens and Friends of Illegal Law Enforcement, said he had no idea who might have distributed the fliers.

"Obviously, someone is trying to make us look bad," he said. "It has nothing to do with me."

A number of local church officials, who are among the organizers of the Sept. 13 meeting, say it is necessary to address the community's fears.

Other activists say they don't think it will accomplish much.

"It's being blown out of proportion," said Ilton Lisboa, former vice president of the association. "Why scare the community?"

Lisboa said it would be better to cooperate with local police before going ahead with a community meeting.

But Manoel Oliveira, senior pastor at New Life Presbyterian Community Church, said he received several calls from residents upset over the fliers.

"There are people in that [apartment] building who are legal residents with kids born here," he said. "Some of the kids who saw the fliers were terrified."

The incident might point to a larger issue, said Vera Dias-Freitas, a vocal advocate of the Brazilian community, who said she hadn't heard of the fliers.

"As a community, we need to get organized, but not in response to cowardly threats," she said.

The Brazilian American Association is at 129 Concord St. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. Call 508-820-9400 for more information.

© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

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