Thread: How to Handle Illegal Aliens

How to Handle Illegal Aliens
Hartford police say they won't arrest border-jumpers. In Danbury, they do. If you are here illegally the law may be applied differently depending on where you live in Connecticut.
By Daniel D'Ambrosio

On March 7, Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts and Mayor Eddie Perez announced a new set of protocols concerning the arrest of illegal immigrants that puts the city squarely in the same camp as New Haven, which has been a leader nationally on the question of how to handle undocumented residents.

From now on, Hartford cops will not arrest a person based solely on his immigration status unless there is a federal criminal warrant out for his arrest. Going a step further, police won't honor any request from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain a person on a civil or administrative warrant.

Think Parkville, where a search by Hartford Police for a suspect in a shooting last November led to the detention by ICE of some 21 illegal immigrants who had nothing to do with the crime in the predominantly Brazilian neighborhood. The detentions caused such fear in the community that Parkville virtually turned into a ghost town, threatening the viability of its businesses, particularly Brazilian restaurants. Ironically, Moises Coutinho, the shooting suspect who was arrested in December, is a U.S. citizen.

"A whole stretch of Park Street was empty for a week," said City Councilman Luis Cotto. "Chief Roberts had to go and have lunch with [a representative of the Brazilian community] to get people to come back out on the street."

The new protocols, which also say "the HPD does not determine someone's legal status," are not exactly a response to Parkville. A push to define the police role where illegal immigrants are concerned was already on, but the new protocols are intended to prevent another Parkville from happening.

New Haven was the first city in the country to issue an identity card that allows an illegal immigrant to open a bank account, get a driver's license and do all those myriad things you can't do without ID. In December 2006, New Haven Police also issued General Order 06-03, which, like Hartford's recent protocols, directs officers not to inquire about a person's immigration status unless investigating a crime.

The order also says no one will be detained solely on the belief that he or she is an illegal, and that "there is no general obligation for a police officer to contact [ICE] regarding any person, unless that person is arrested on a criminal charge."

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano framed the argument for the illegal immigrant identity card as a public safety issue: illegals were targets for robberies as everyone knew they couldn't put their cash in a bank. Also, undocumented residents were reluctant to report crimes for fear of being arrested themselves.

"People who are not documented don't interact with authorities," said Tara Parrish, lead organizer for Hartford Area Rallies Together (HART). "They don't report housing violations because they might be asked their status. They may not go to English-as-a-second-language classes for fear they'll be asked their status."

At the opposite end of the immigration policy spectrum lies the city of Danbury, which has made it clear it will not only cooperate with ICE on both criminal and civil matters, but has also made two of its police officers available for training by ICE in federal immigration policy and law.

"If ICE wants us to hold somebody, we will, whatever the reason," said Ted Cutsumpas, community services director in the office of Mayor Mark Boughton. "The federal government has the authority and ability to come to Danbury and do that on their own. They don't need us to help them, but if they ask, we're going to help."

Danbury Police Chief Alan Baker told the Advocate his department cooperates with all federal agencies, not just ICE.

"We've worked drug cases with DEA, used U.S. Marshals to work with us tracking down wanted felons, worked with the State Department, worked with ICE, one of many federal agencies we cooperate with," said Baker.

Baker sees the various federal agencies as "force multipliers" that can cross jurisdictional lines he can't cross, and have authority he doesn't have, making Danbury police that much more effective.

"We try to remain apolitical and make the best decisions we can with the needs of law enforcement in mind," said Baker.

Both Hartford and New Haven police also cooperate with various federal agencies on law enforcement, but unlike Danbury, they've both drawn the line at civil matters concerning illegal immigrants.

Jeffrey Meyer, an associate law professor at Quinnipiac University, is a former assistant U.S. attorney in New Haven. He said it is entirely within the rights of municipalities to decide how and to what extent they're going to cooperate with federal authorities.

"It's a basic premise of the balance between federal and state government that state government entities are not merely branch offices of the federal government," Meyer said. "Although federal law is supreme, the Supreme Court has recognized that the federal government may not commandeer state agencies for its own regulatory or enforcement purposes."

Building on that premise, there's now a movement afoot by the Hartford Immigrant Rights Coalition to make Hartford the first city in the nation to adopt a city ordinance that would prevent police and other city employees from inquiring about a person's immigration status unless criminal activity is suspected. Such an ordinance would make virtually permanent policies that are currently only guidelines in both New Haven and Hartford.

"What we want to do is create something with some teeth, some longevity," said Parrish.

New Haven's General Order 06-03 and Hartford's recently announced protocols for police officers could both simply be rescinded by a new mayor. An ordinance codifying the same policies, on the other hand, would require public hearings and a formal amendment to the city code to be changed.

Parrish said the coalition met with Mayor Perez in August to discuss the proposed ordinance, and again in November, and that another meeting is scheduled for April 1. Community Liaison Evelyn Mantilla has been assigned by the mayor to work with the coalition.

Parrish and others are well aware that immigration policy is a hot-button issue. New Haven's identity card was met with some vitriolic feedback from local citizens who were vehemently opposed to making life easier on illegals. Coincidentally, two days after the ID program was announced, ICE arrested 29 undocumented residents in raids in New Haven. And in Danbury, a crowd numbered in the thousands by a Hartford Courant report voiced their opposition outside city hall when the common council approved a proposal to allow Danbury cops to enforce federal immigration law.

So far in Hartford, says Parrish, things have been comparatively quiet, but that could change as the proposed illegal immigrant ordinance makes its way through the political process.

"We may be surprised by who comes out of the woodwork," said Parrish.

Write to us at editor@hartforadvocate.com or ddambrosio@hartfordadvocate.com

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