Forces on both sides of the national immigration debate hit the streets of New Haven. One side was arresting immigrants; the other was marching for reform.
Over 200 marchers strode through New Haven on Tuesday evening, chanting their way to a rally on the Green. Their message: reform the country’s immigration laws — now.
The march came amid a statewide roundup of immigrants resulting in 27 arrests as of Tuesday, including two in New Haven.
Tuesday’s immigration reform rally was one of three held statewide under the coordination of the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance. The effort is aimed at keeping the pressure on lawmakers in Washington, where the so-called “Gang of Eight” U.S. senators plan to unveil a new immigration reform deal as early as Thursday.
Among the scores marching through downtown were several dozen members from janitors union 32BJ, including 60-year-old Ciro Gutierrez. He said he came from Peru 18 years ago without papers, and suffered through low-wage jobs and few worker rights.
“I know how hard it is to be undocumented,” he said. “You can’t ask for rights. You can’t ask for good wages.”
Current and aspiring lawmakers also attended the rally. Several aldermen marched with the crowd. Mayoral candidate Henry Fernandez joined in.
At the Green, current Mayor John DeStefano (pictured) was one of a number of speakers who led the crowd in chants. “We are New Haven and we want immigration reform!” he shouted.
State Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield (pictured), another mayoral candidate, spoke in favor of the state effort to issue drivers’ licenses to immigrants, as did State Reps. Juan Candelaria and Roland Lemar.
Further speakers took the stage as the sun sank over the Green.
2 New Haven Immigrants Arrested
Meanwhile, a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency arrest operation — an official declined to call it a “sweep” — began in Connecticut Saturday. It is continuing.
It focuses on undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of major crimes, not just accused, and who “pose a threat to public safety,” according to ICE spokesman Ross Feinstein. ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit is carrying out the operation.
Feinstein declined to name the two New Haven men arrested. One has three separate convictions for driving under the influence of alcohol, Feinstein said. He said the other has been convicted of third-degree assault, breach of peace, second-degree assault, unlawful restraint, and sale of narcotics.
“It’s now a ‘sweep’ or a ‘raid.’ It’s a targeted enforcement,” Feinstein said.
One New Haven immigration attorney, Glenn Formica, criticized the operation.
At least 10 of the 27 arrested people have contacted him, Formica said. He has begun formally representing three of them.
“They’re calling me because they’re in panic,” Formica said.
He suggested that ICE could send letters to the targets to order them to report to the Hartford ICE office instead of showing up at doors.
“Whenever they go into the community and start taking people, it puts a lot of stress on the community. It creates a lot of fear and anxiety,” Formica said.
“I don’t think they have to go door to door. If somebody gets a letter from ICE saying, ‘Appear in Hartford,’ they will show up. Most people are not going to run. A guy with three DUIs, I don’t think you need to go to his house and arrest him. I think you can send him a letter and he will get a lawyer and show up.”
In response, ICE’s Feinstein noted that the people arrested have repeatedly violated the law. “ICE will continue to target individuals who are in the country illegally to enforce our immigration priorities,” he said.
Attorney Formica added that while he is critical of ICE police, “which comes from elsewhere, it would be hard for me to criticize the professionalism or the fairness of the local ICE office.”