Thread: City plan for ID cards hits a nerve

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

New Haven has been thrown into the national spotlight and is holding its ground as supporters and detractors weigh in on its planned ID card, which appears to be the first in the country that will be available to illegal aliens and citizens alike.


"It is turning into a metaphor for a larger national debate about immigration and it's going to continue to play out," said Mayor John DeStefano Jr., who was convinced of the worth of the ID for practical reasons.

"It's a practical response to a real problem of a large segment of the population who felt isolated from civil authority, were fearful of civil authority and that was contributing to a lack of civility and order in our community," said DeStefano, who estimated 10 percent of New Haven's 120,000 population are undocumented.

The purpose of the card, which is available to everyone, but pitched to senior citizens, students, children and immigrants, would allow access to city libraries and parks, while a debit component would facilitate purchases at some 50 stores and payment at parking meters.

Documents needed to verify identification are the same as those required by banks to open accounts, so it is viewed as a way to get immigrants to use banks to make them less vulnerable to thefts.

But lost in the discussion was the genesis for the program, which Michael Wishnie, a lawyer with the legal clinics at the Yale Law School, said was public safety and the request from immigrants to have identification they could show police.

Wishnie said the guidance from Houston, Boston and other big city police departments they contacted was to know who is in your city and to work with all residents without clouding public safety with issues of citizenship.

"This is sound local governance. This is not about soapbox, this is not about foreign policy. This is what police around the country say that is helpful in moving forward," Wishnie said.

New Haven is among a group of cities, that includes Los Angeles and Chicago, that do not use local police to enforce civil immigration violations, a stance also taken by the Connecticut State Police.

Criminal charges are a different matter, however, with all law enforcement agencies cooperating at that level.

It was a quintessential New Haven moment last week, full of civic pride for the officials, advocates and clergy who vetted the issue for the past two years, after the program was officially approved.

"I'm very proud of the city where I was born ... the mayor is supposed to maintain civic order and assure the common good. By this initiative he has done exactly that. He has taken leadership, leadership I hope that will permeate the minds of other leaders throughout our country to do the same until we get a comprehensive plan that protects migrants," said Bishop Peter Rosazza of the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford.

That pride however, turned to anger and charges of intimidation by the federal government when a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials resulted in the arrest of 32 immigrants, coming as it did two days after New Haven voted to start offering the program in July.

The raids, seeking immigrants who have ignored deportation orders, even generated a pointed comment from one Democratic presidential candidate.

"The people targeted in today's (June 6) raid are hard working and productive. They have families and they don't have criminal records," said Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. "The tactics reportedly used by agents — taking suspects away in front of family members, including young children — are extreme and uncalled for."

Paula Grenier, spokeswoman for ICE for the New England region, said all its raids are planned, while a subsequent report said the fugitive task force had been scheduled to come to New Haven since April.

New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz said in his 28 years with the department, he could not remember a similar raid by ICE, particularly one where his department was not notified until it was well under way.

DeStefano said of the 600,000 warrants held by ICE to enforce deportation orders across the country, he questioned the choice to serve some in New Haven right after the ID program was approved.

"No other city in Connecticut hit the lottery that day," DeStefano said. "I will be interested to see the next city to be hit by this, if it is New Haven or someone else, all things being equal."

City officials said the agents had 16 warrants, but were only able to find four of those people. The remaining 28 people were collateral arrests.

With the U.S. Senate again stalled on national immigration reform, New Haven represents one end of the spectrum of debate as individual communities come up with their own solutions to the immigrant problem, as they deal with the estimated 12 million undocumented residents in the country.

Mayor Lou Barletta of Hazelton, Pa., led the fight in that coal-mining city where legislators adopted an anti-illegal alien ordinance that penalizes businesses that hire illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them.

There is no ruling yet and both sides have pledged to appeal, while a series of other cases, including Farmers Branch, Texas, where another federal court has temporarily blocked a similar ordinance barring apartment rentals to most illegal immigrants, could eventually wind their way to the Supreme Court.

In the recent Senate debate on immigration, Sen. Norm Coleman, Republican of Minnesota, also lost by only one vote, on an amendment that would have prevented cities and states from collecting information on legal status. Many, including New Haven, do not seek information on citizenship when dealing with police, while other cities keep it out of the equation for health care reasons.

"If you believe at all in state's rights and states and cities deciding what makes them safe, it is a slap in the face of that and community policing," said Joan Friedland, immigration policy director for the National Immigration Law Center.

A handful of vocal opponents to New Haven's ID card from outside the city emerged just before it was adopted. In the state legislature, there were two last-minute failed attempts by Republican lawmakers to disallow the municipal IDs.

State Sen. Leonard Fasano, R-North Branford, proposed that New Haven forfeit all state assistance if it proceeded with the municipal ID. He offered it as an amendment to a bill allowing in-state tuition rates for undocumented immigrants who graduate from Connecticut high schools, a measure that ultimately passed and is now being considered by Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

New Haven's lawyers argued that state statutes grant municipalities broad powers of discretion to provide for the general health, safety and welfare of its citizens; there are also many examples of cities issuing some kind of IDs, and they feel their proposal falls within both jurisdictions.

Fasano wasn't sure that was an accurate interpretation and said it would be better for the state legislature to determine the rules around collection and safeguarding of the information, as well as to prevent identify fraud.

Given that 50 percent of New Haven's budget is supported with state funds, Fasano said "my tax dollars" are helping to underwrite such things as increased library and park use by immigrants. "It's an issue that should be debated," Fasano said of the cards.

State Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, offered a ban on such IDs, arguing that "immigration law is a federal issue. Mayor DeStefano has made it a local issue, he has made it a state issue and I felt I had to address it. He is making foreign policy."

DeStefano said the city is on solid ground legally in issuing the cards, which do not confer additional rights than people already have, and is a program that is being funded entirely by a private grant.

"This is an intrusion by the state into municipal affairs," he said of the amendments by Fasano and Candelaro, and that he was "shocked" that two Republican lawmakers would advocate such a move.

Steven Camarota, director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, which advocates for fewer immigrants, feels the ID in and of itself is more symbolic than anything else. "But, it conveys a contempt for the rule of law, although as a practical matter, it is not clear how the cards themselves are meaningful," Camarota said.

Central to much of the talk around the ID in New Haven, was setting a civil tone that breaks with America's difficult history with immigrants, where each subsequent wave has been subject to poor treatment by those who came before.

DeStefano said "to the extent that we mainstream populations which are here because of the availability of work that no one else wants to do, the community benefits as a whole. This (ID) just helps us navigate that."

Oh yes, let's continue to do all we can to encourage more illegal immigration.

"The people targeted in today's (June 6) raid are hard working and productive. They have families and they don't have criminal records," said Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico. "The tactics reportedly used by agents — taking suspects away in front of family members, including young children — are extreme and uncalled for."

Illegals are Criminals!!!!!!!!!!!

How did this guy become governor and he has never seen a police officer arrest someone?

Really, someone please send him the collectors edition of COPS so he can watch the reality of being arrested. I've seen people hauled off in front of their families before. So what! Their family is not going to compell me to stop the arrest process and allow the criminal to get away!

Dixie

Was the word "illegal" used even once in the article? Legal immigrants have a green card that can be used for identification purposes. If you're talking about ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS than say so. Say what you mean and mean what you say! This isn't about immigrants, it's about illegal immigrants.

Gosh, why doesn't the Mayor call up the Mexican Consulate. I'm sure they'd be glad to hand out their Matricular cards. Actually, they probably do already.