Thread: Watertown hosts immigration discussion, protest

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Watertown hosts immigration discussion, protest
By: Anthony Oliveiri 07/14/2005
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The Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control invited Michael Cutler, former INS agent, to be the guest speaker at their immigration meeting at the American Legion in Oakville Tuesday, July 12.

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Mr. Cutler was welcomed to town by a large group of protesters alongside the Kmart parking lot on Straits Turnpike, adjacent to the building where Mr. Cutler was speaking.

Many of the protesters, young and old, waved flags from their homelands and chanted "The people united will never be defeated," as they marched along Bunker Hill Road.

Kit Salazar-Smith, Vice President of the Western Connecticut Central Labor Council and one of the organizers of the demonstration, said the Immigration Control group is shortsighted and is not grasping the concept of true American patriotism.

"Who among us is not a child of immigrants who helped build this country?" she asked. "America is still a great nation, but will it cease to be a great nation if we allow this element of subversives to spread their hateful words and divisiveness, disguised as patriotism.

"They don't care about America, if they did they'd be working on the real problems we face today, like the lack of decent paying jobs for everyone and decent health care and concern for the environment."

However, Mary Long, one of the co-founders of the immigration control group, sees the situation in an entirely different light.

She said the immigration controllers are not against immigration itself, but against illegal immigration. She believes illegal aliens are taking jobs away from legitimate American citizens, with under-the-table jobs that do not get taxed.

"I think it's a slap in the face to people who are here legally," she said. "Illegal immigrants feel they should be treated differently, and it's not right, Americans could be doing these jobs."

The guest speaker at Mrs. Long's meeting, Mr. Cutler, spent 30 years as an INS employee, and 26 of those years as a special agent.

Mr. Cutler echoed the sentiments of others at the meeting when he told the gathered crowd that the United States needs to secure its borders.

He also claimed that President Bush and other government officials do not want to secure the borders because they are making money from the immigrant workers that are coming over the border.

"People will tell you that I am anti-Mexican or anti-Latino," he said. "It just happens to be that over my time I arrested more illegal Israelis in New York than any other agent, does that make me anti-Semitic?

"I just happen to be Jewish."

According to Mr. Cutler, to open your doors to anyone is equivalent to leaving the front door of your house open all night, unaware of who might walk in.

He said he believes the lack of special agents and border control patrollers leads to this country's vulnerability to terrorist attacks and other threats.

He cites only 2,000 special agents and 11,000 border patrol officers to cover the nearly 6,000 combined miles of U.S. border with Canada and Mexico.

"It's the political machinery that does everything in its power to see that the laws do not get enforced," said Mr. Cutler. "Seventy percent of the arrested aliens are told to go where they want to go, once they are apprehended as being illegal, then go see immigration officials once they arrive at their destination."

According to Mr. Cutler, 15 percent do show up at an immigration office, and 85 percent do not.

"Frankly, I think the 15 percent who do go need their heads examined," he said. "Who wants to voluntarily go to someone that might tell them that they are illegal and have to leave?"

Mrs. Salazar-Smith said, the immigrant control group is masking the real issue that American jobs are being exported because large corporations feel that they can make money by paying overseas workers next-to-nothing for their labor.

"When employees of companies like Stanley Works or Pratt and Whitney or IBM lose their jobs, they aren't losing them to immigrants," she said. "The pretty words that the corporations are using, such as downsizing, outsourcing and so forth don't change the fact that Americans are losing good jobs not to immigrants, but to corporations investing outside the United States."

Nichki Carangelo of Waterbury was at the protest to support what Mrs. Salazar-Smith was saying, and to exercise her American freedoms.

"I think it's great that there is something here that everyone can get to," she said. "I think the point of this demonstration is that we need to keep our rights, and if we support causes like this, those rights won't be taken away."

Dennis Finnegan, a representative of the carpenter's union, was at the demonstration to show that not all workers feel that immigrants are infringing on their territory. Many of the carpenters welcome immigrants as co-workers and friends.

"This is America," he said. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It's in the preamble of the constitution. Some of us believe in the dignity of human beings."

Whether in favor of the immigration controllers, or protesting against them, both sides do not agree with how the government is handling the situation.

Mr. Cutler believes the borders should be tightened and the government's eyes must stop turning away from all the illegal aliens streaming into the country, for everyone's safety.

Mrs. Salazar-Smith believes that big corporations, and our government that supports them, should give the jobs to immigrants instead of outsourcing them, for the good of the workers and the economy.

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©Town Times 2005
Reader Opinions:
Erle Carey Jul, 14 2005
Anyone interested in the goings on of illegal immigration and immigration reform should search for Project USA,VDARE,and FAIR. I live in Bisbee Arizona and I've seen groups of twenty or more illegals being detained right on my street. They usually just check them out for injuries or dehydration and drive them back to the border and release them. Many vow that they will come across again. I am not against immigration but it has to be done legally and I am definitely against amnesty for illegals. It was done once and here we go again. It has to stop. Most of our Congressmen seem to turn their heads or bury them in sand when confronted by their constituents desire to do something about this problem. I hope the USA wakes up soon.

I am for a total Moratorium on Immigration at this point in time. With 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 illegal aliens in our midst, there is no reason to invite more immigrants until the 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 are removed from American Soil.

I would imagine Mr. Fennegan form the local carpenter's union has a business and hires illegals instead of Americans. Look around your new developments and see who is building them today. Yesterday it was all-American; today they are 100% Hispanic Crews. That is illegal in the United States even if they were LEGAL HISPANIC CREWS. Developers are subject to the Equal Employment Opportunity Act....get my drift

IN otherwords, that doesn't happen under EEO Act Compliance...get my drift

Kit Salazar-Smith, Vice President of the Western Connecticut Central Labor Council and one of the organizers of the demonstration, said the Immigration Control group is shortsighted and is not grasping the concept of true American patriotism.

"Who among us is not a child of immigrants who helped build this country?" she asked. "America is still a great nation, but will it cease to be a great nation if we allow this element of subversives to spread their hateful words and divisiveness, disguised as patriotism.

"They don't care about America, if they did they'd be working on the real problems we face today, like the lack of decent paying jobs for everyone and decent health care and concern for the environment."

If people opposed to illegal immigration are shortsighted then this woman has her head up her butt. Doing something about illegal immigration is a great way to create decent paying jobs, decent health care, and to protect the environment. How exactly is promoting illegal immigration going to make that happen you idiot.

I lived in Waterbury from 1983 to 1986, times were indeed tough. The Armored Car jobs were paying $6.50 an hour to start, the rent on my apartment went from $285 a month to $595 a month in those three years. Here I was delivering huge sums of cash to banks and having to go fishing in the lake just to have something for supper, sad isn't it! Get ready America, and break out your fishing poles, GOT FOOD?

Defens--that is precisely what is happening in metro areas right now with the cost of living and housng rising exponentially compared to wages and salaries.

Judy, the Armored Truck company I worked for in California used a tactic of keeping their employees on the brink of financial disaster. They couldn't afford to strike, pay dues or more importantlly kick up any kind of a fuss for fear of losing it all. The owner of the company drove from LA all the way to our office (75 miles) just so he could call us "Just a bunch of stupid [deleted]ing truck drivers", pretty gutsy in a room full of guys with guns. I believe this is the situation the government wants. I call it diversion, you will be so busy trying to make ends meet, you will not have time to scrutinize what they are doing. One wrong word at work and you'll be living in a fridge box at the dump. The psycological effect of being on the edge of the financial cliff is devestating. I saw the cowing effect first hand as Union President in the microcosum of that company.

I know, Defens. That's why everyone must follow the suggestions of:

1) pay off those credit cards whatever it takes

2) don't use debit cards, use cash whenever possible

3) DON'T SPEND, SAVE!!