Melinda Tuhus Photo
An Ecuadorian lawmaker came to New Haven to thank Mayor John DeStefano for his support of immigrants. The mayor, ever the politician, was very interested in the voting habits of her countrymen and women.
The exchange took place Monday afternoon in City Hall.
Linda Machuca represents Ecuadorians living in the U.S. and Canada in Ecuador’s National Assembly. She has lived in New York for eight years and was elected by her fellow immigrants. Of 124 seats in the unicameral legislature, six are reserved for representatives of Ecuadorians living outside the country, like those in New Haven.
At a ceremony in the aldermanic chamber, with a couple dozen Ecuadorian residents looking on proudly, Machuca said in Spanish that three million Ecuadorians (out of 13 million) live outside their native country. Ecuador is also home to many immigrants and political exiles from other countries, so Ecuador believes in universal citizenship. (She’s pictured with New Haven Ecuadorian community activist, Dixon Jimenez, holding a prototype passport.)
“Lamentably,” Machuca added, “there exists in other places many examples of politicians and other leaders taking an attitude of xenophobia toward immigrants.” But she said that’s not the case in New Haven, and thanked Mayor DeStefano for his leadership and his respect not only for Ecuadorians, but for all immigrants. New Haven earned national attention for its immigrant-friendly i.d. card, a policy directing cops not to ask people about their immigration status, and becoming the home of the Ecuadorian consulate after Danbury became unfriendly turf.
In accepting the citation from the National Assembly of Ecuador (pictured), DeStefano replied, “It’s not so much a universal passport that we will share, but values of hard work and community and values that say we are stronger together.” He mentioned that 100 years ago, one third of New Haveners were immigrants; half of the rest had an immigrant parent.
Then, as now, “immigrants provide needed workforces, create markets, and are disproportionately entrepreneurial — they start businesses,” the mayor said.
He mentioned that the New Haven-based consular office is able to help Ecuadorian immigrants seeking various kinds of assistance.
Before the ceremony began, DeStefano met Machuca outside his office (pictured at the top of the story). He asked her how many Ecuadorians in Connecticut vote in their native country’s elections. She replied that 1,390 are registered in Connecticut, while 30,000 are registered across the U.S. and Canada.
Besides DeStefano, four Ecuadorian women who have made contributions to Connecticut were honored with citations from their respective members of the U.S. Congress, Rosa DeLauro and Jim Himes. Honorees included Laura Acaro with La Virgen del Cisne and Seila Mosquera-Bruno, executive director of Mutual Housing Association. (Mosquera-Bruno did not attend; Acaro is pictured between Sandra Contreras from Bridgeport and Maria Augosta Alvarez from the Naugatuck Valley.)