Up to 150 New Haveners crossed a border Wednesday night —”- into West Haven —”- to make a point about people in the city who make more treacherous border-crossings: immigrants coming here for a better life.
The New Haven contingent rallied outside the American Legion hall on Main Street to declare that immigrants are welcome in the area and the anti-immigrant Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control is not. That latter group held its fifth in a series of meetings in cities around Connecticut; the turnout here of protesters to meeting-goers was even more lopsided than in other towns —” more than 10 to 1 (not counting the dozen students from a West Haven High government class who checked out the meeting for extra credit).
The event took place a day after New Haven City Hall faced a backlash on a proposal to issue ID cards to undocumented workers, among other immigrants.
As the chant, “The people united will never be defeated,” morphed into a much louder and more enthusiastic “El pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido,” a handful of people came to hear CCIC co-founder Paul Streitz explain why illegal immigration hurts the citizens of Connecticut.
Outside, protesters said undocumented workers —” the vast majority Latinos from Mexico and many other countries —” are being scapegoated for the problems of a globalized, privatized, out-sourced society.
“People cross the border because life in Latin America is getting worse for poor people,” said rally organizer John Lugo, who works with Unidad Latina en Acción (Latinos United in Action). “Many corporations in this country are responsible for what’s going on in Latin America. If they’re in our country, we have the right to get something back, and that’s why we’re crossing the border. Many of the people who are legal now were illegal at one time.”
Lugo is one of them; he crossed the border illegally in 1986, was arrested and spent two months in jail. He has since become not only legal, but an American citizen. He works in New Haven for Community Mediation. “I don’t feel like I am less than any other American who was born in this country. Everybody is a human being, so what is the difference between one human being and another —” because we are a different color or speak a different language? I think all humans are equal.”
To members of the CCIC, Lugo’s story illustrates that those who sneak across the border can enjoy all the rights of citizenship without playing by the rules. Streitz insists his group opposes just illegal, not legal, immigrants, because they push down wages and take jobs from citizens; he wants the government to sanction employers who hire undocumented workers.
Streitz said criticism that his group is racist is “slander.” But it wasn’t hard to find among his supporters those who describe immigrants in stereotypical, racist terms. Before going in to the meeting, Frank Mastej of West Haven said, “These people come over with diseases, don’t want to do nothin’. Illegals —” they shouldn’t be here.”
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 75,000 undocumented immigrants live in Connecticut. An estimated half of New Haven’s Latino population of 25,000 is without papers, and therefore unable to open a bank account, get access to many social services, or feel safe reporting crimes against them to the police.