Thread: Protesters rally against arrests of 'Danbury 11'

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Protesters rally against arrests of 'Danbury 11'
DANBURY — A rally and march this afternoon to protest the arrest last week of 11 immigrants drew about 200 people and speakers who made impassioned pleas for human rights.

“We are looking for freedom and here’s what we got,” said Franklin Pena, president of the Ecuadorean Civic Center as he symbolically put a chain around himself. The Center sponsored the rally and march along with the Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants and the Danbury Peace Coalition.

The rally began in Kennedy Park where many immigrants gather in the morning in hopes of finding work. After about a dozen people spoke, the participants marched down New Street to City Hall where they shouted slogans and walked in front of the building before marching back to Kennedy Park.

Some speakers were highly critical of Danbury mayor Mark Boughton and the city’s police chief, Al Baker. They blamed them for the arrest of the 11 men on Sept. 19.

“This mayor is working hand in glove” with the federal authorities, said Jason McGahan, of the Connecticut Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants.

City Council member Lynn Taborsak called for court hearings for the “Danbury 11” and said “let us demand of Baker no more stings.”

The rally also drew about 25 people protesting illegal immigration. Some carried signs against guest worker amnesty or in support of the closing of America’s borders.

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Protesters rally against arrests
Marchers gather at Kennedy Park in support of immigrants
By Marietta Homayonpour THE NEWS-TIMES

DANBURY -- A rally and march Saturday afternoon to protest the arrest last week of 11 immigrants drew about 200 people including speakers who made impassioned pleas for human rights that they said are denied to immigrants.

"We are looking for freedom and here's what we got," said Franklin Pena, president of the Ecuadorean Civic Center as he symbolically put a chain around himself. The Center sponsored the rally and march along with the Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants and the Danbury Peace Coalition.

The rally began in Kennedy Park where many immigrants gather in the morning in hopes of finding work. After about a dozen people spoke, the participants marched down New Street to City Hall where they walked in a circle in front of the building carrying signs and shouting slogans in English and Spanish before marching back to Kennedy Park.

Signs, such as "No Human Being is Illegal" or "One City, Many Colors," reflected the theme of several speakers.

The rally also drew about 25 people protesting illegal immigration. Some carried signs against a guest worker amnesty program or in support of the closing of America's borders.

Police -- several extra officers were brought in for the rally -- kept counter-protesters across the street from City Hall where many of them held up their signs.

The rally and anti-rally were peaceful, though there was a verbal confrontation between members of each group. A few of the counter-protesters went to the rally at Kennedy Park where many of the speeches were in English and Spanish and one man shouted "English, English." A rally participant shouted back "why don't you join the KKK."

Some speakers were highly critical of Danbury mayor Mark Boughton -- a strong proponent of immigration law enforcement -- and also of the city's police chief Al Baker. They blamed them for the arrest of the 11 men on Sept. 19.

"This mayor is working hand in glove" with the federal authorities, said Jason McGahan of the Connecticut Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants.

Common Council member Lynn Taborsak contended the "Danbury 11" were taken away without due process. She asked for court hearings for them and said "let us demand of Baker no more stings."

When Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials arrested the 11 immigrants -- all Ecuadoreans -- on Sept. 19, they did it by stopping an unmarked van near Kennedy Park. The immigrants got into the van thinking they were being offered work.

ICE came to Danbury as part of a federal program called "Return to Sender" which is a sting operation occurring across the country. About two weeks ago ICE informed the city that it would be coming here but did not say when, according to Boughton.

Danbury police, however, sped up the process by asking ICE to come to the city after illegal immigrants were allegedly causing a safety hazard by refusing requests by police to stop darting in and out of traffic.

Neither Boughton nor Baker were at the rally. But in a telephone interview on Saturday Boughton said the speakers shouldn't have blamed the city for the arrests.

"Blame people who cross the border illegally," Boughton said. "Now we have the federal government enforcing the law."

The rally was a mix of young and old, immigrants and non-immigrants. Most were from the Danbury area but some came from other cities and even other states, including New York and New Jersey. Six students from Yale University held up a sign supporting the rally.

Leonel Villavicencio, president of the Danbury Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants, said that the arrests of the 11 men were a "violation of immigrant dignity." He told the crowd that lawyers from Waterbury and New Haven will be contacting federal authorities about the immigrants.

At the start of the rally, Villavicencio said he was "inviting the city government to a responsible dialogue" about immigration. Villavicencio was happy with the turnout at the rally and at the end told the crowd that "we showed the authorities that we have a voice."

Many young adults took part in the rally. One of them was Chris Towne of the Danbury Peace Coalition who told participants at the end of the rally that "an attack on one is an attack on all."

Towne said the fight for immigrant rights was "just beginning" and called for the establishment of a day laborer's center. In an interview after the rally, Towne said that such a center would help to insure that day laborers are not cheated out of their wages.

Some residents, however, strongly disagreed with rally supporters.

"I'm here to protest illegal immigration," said Tom Manuel, a rally protester who has lived in Bethel for 31 years.

Manuel said that some immigrants do not respect America's flag, laws or language. He referred to the use of the Spanish language at the rally and in everyday life, such as in local stores, and said "I'm fed up with the use of the Spanish language over our language."

Betty, a protester of the rally who would not give her last name, said she lives in downtown Danbury "and it's like living in a foreign country." She said the police often have to be called for disturbances of the peace and "my quality of life is diminished."

Still, Betty said she is "the last person you'd call a racist." She belongs to U.S. Citizens for Immigration Law Enforcement and said "we are only against illegal immigration. We just want the laws enforced."

But Angel Curillo who marched in support of the rally with his two young daughters, had a different view. "Immigrants are hard working in this country," he said.

Curillo, who has lived in Danbury for 16 years, said that immigrants are willing to work 15 to 18 hour days to earn money for relatives in their home countries. For his first five years in America, Curillo said he was illegal but "came here to help my family in Ecuador."

In the English translation of his speech to the rally, Ecuadorean Civic Center member Carlos Cordova said that the immigrants who were arrested were no threat to the government.

"The only crime of those 11 people was to work," he said.

Jeffrey Quinnones, who marched in support of the rally, echoed Cordova's sentiments. "It's unfair, the arrest of illegals. They're not doing anything bad, not selling drugs or killing people. They were arrested for trying to support a family."

The 32-year-old Quinnones, who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., but has lived in Danbury for 14 years, said the arrest of the 11 men was discouraging. "This is the land of the free. But it doesn't look so free lately."

For another person at the rally, however, the immigration debate is not so clear cut. "Both sides have an issue," said Fred Rossetti, of New Fairfield, who came to observe the rally with his sons Aaron, 10, and Dylan, 7. Sixteen years ago Rossetti, who is an American citizen, married an illegal immigrant from El Salvador.

On one side, Rossetti said, "I can see people who want to come here and work and are doing jobs that a lot of others don't want. They're human beings with the right to work. They're not hurting anyone." But on the other side, he said, "I see the issue of national security and that we have protect the borders" from people who want to harm the country.

One of the speakers at the rally, the Rev. Angelo Arundo of St. Gregory the Great Church in Danbury, said a message of unity between immigrants and non-immigrants "must be broadcast" to City Hall and the White House. "We are one, somos uno."


Contact Marietta Homayonpour at mhomayonpour@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3336.

The 32-year-old Quinnones, who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., but has lived in Danbury for 14 years, said the arrest of the 11 men was discouraging. "This is the land of the free. But it doesn't look so free lately."

Citizens enjoy freedom from repression. It doesn't mean everything is free.