Daniela Brighenti Photo
Nine protesters were arrested in Hartford on Monday as they blocked traffic in protest of the recent Supreme Court decision in United States v. Texas.
If it were up to Edgar Sandoval, that number would have been 10.
“I told them I was fine to get arrested! I would climb the building if I had to,” Sandoval said. “But they say it’s dangerous because of my ‘status.’”
Sandoval, like many others currently living in New Haven and Connecticut at large, is an undocumented immigrant. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1989, fleeing from a home country, Guatemala, that was riddled with violence and poverty amidst a turbulent civil war.
Sandoval had a visa when he arrived in the U.S. The visa soon expired. However, he could not go back to his home country.
“I was in the military, during the war,” he recounted. “They prosecuted people back in the day, and now I can’t go back.”
He placed all his hopes in President Barack Obama’s November 2014 executive order, titled Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (aka DAPA), which would allow parents with children born in the U.S. to “request deferred action and employment authorization for three years” if they had lived in the country since at least January 2010 and passed required background checks.
But a split 4 – 4 Supreme Court decision announced last Thursday allowed an appeals court ruling blocking the order to stand, impeding full implementation of DAPA.
“I’m living in the shadows,” Sandoval said. “We are not begging for anything for free; we just want to be like everybody. I want to walk on the street unafraid, that I won’t get caught by the police or the immigration. Sometimes, families don’t even get to say goodbye before they are taken away.”
Sandoval has not seen his family — two daughters and their mother, who reside in California — for years now. He is scared that if he travels by bus or train he will be caught at a checkpoint in between.
“You cannot trust anybody now,” Sandoval said. “We need some relief for people who are here and haven’t caused any problems with the law.”
Sandoval has been a member of New Haven’s immigrant-rights group Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA) for eight years now. After group members held a protest on Thursday in front of New Haven’s federal courthouse, they met to discuss future demonstrations.
The protest was held in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office.
Monday’s protest in front of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Hartford was the product of a partnership among multiple immigration groups in Connecticut, including Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance, ULA, Junta for Progressive Action, Connecticut Students for a Dream, ACLU CT, United Action CT and Make the Road CT.
Shortly after 3:30 p.m., nearly 200 attendees began to rally on the sidewalk in front of the ICE (federal Immigration & Customs Enforcement) building. They held signs and banners, while chanting, “No papers, no fear!” and “Undocumented, unafraid!”
After 15 minutes, select participants shared their personal motives for participating in the demonstration over a megaphone.
“Thinking that there are 7 million undocumented immigrants, about 3 million cannot qualify for DAPA. But the remaining 4 million can,” said Erik Muñoz of New Haven, who came to the U.S. from Ecuador with his mother and sister when he was in grade school. “We leave our countries looking for better things. We are here to make change.”
Lucas Condognolla immigrated from Brazil in 2000, when he was 9 years old, in order to “escape the violence,” he said.
“I am sick of living in constant fear that my family will be separated,” Condognolla said. “I am sick of this building,” he added, pointing to the ICE steps behind where he stood. He called for an end to the collaboration between local police forces and the ICE.
No DAPA, No Deportations.
At around 4 p.m., organizers began to announce on their megaphones that they would soon start “civil disobedience.” Nearly 30 demonstrators took to blocking Main Street at its intersection with Linden Street, in front of the ICE building. They held a large, fluorescent orange banner that read “No DAPA. No deportation.”
As they blocked the traffic and continued to chant, more police began to arrive to the area. Officers diverted traffic to nearby street, maintaining a one-block cutoff area to either side of the protest line.
Police use borrowed megaphone to announce impending arrests.
After traffic had been cut off for about 15 minutes, a police officer asked one of the organizers for her megaphone. He called for silence so he could inform protesters that, if they did not vacate the road, they would be subject to arrest.
At that point, most demonstrators took to the sidewalk again. Nine remained on the street; eight had already previously planned to be arrested if it came down to it; the other, Joseph Foran, decided to stay after he was able to assure a babysitter for his children at home..
The remaining six protesters wait to be arrested.
The nine protesters — Camila Bortolleto, Gabby Rodriguez, Renato Muguerza, Mark Colville, Muñoz, Alok Bhatt, John Lugo, Condognolla and Foran — remained steadfastly on the road, holding with one hand the banner and the other high in the air, in a proud fist. Colville and Lugo are from New Haven.
Police speak with each protester individually.
Police officers approached protesters one by one, warning them that they would be arrested if they did not leave the road. All nine refused, and were subsequently arrested. They were taken to a police station on High Street where they would most likely face charges of disorderly conduct.
According to Stefan Keller, who was acting as a press person for CIRA at the event, the organizers expected the charges to be “breach of peace” and “disorderly conduct.” He said they had a “support system” in place for those arrested, which included drivers to drive them home once they were allowed to leave jail.
Once the nine arrested were driven away in a police car at about 4:45 p.m., the rally continued, with organizers inviting those still present to share their stories with the public.
On the same Monday afternoon, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven released a statement reaffirming its commitment to the “work in support of immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, in Greater New Haven.”