Thomas MacMillan Photo
Kica Matos.
Few would have dreamed five years ago that, in 2012, New Haven immigrants would get official IDs, the state (and then federal government) would give public college opportunity to undocumented students, that police in at least one Connecticut city would be barred for inquiring into the immigration status of people they stop.
What next?
That questioned landed in the laps of four immigration reform advocates at a panel at the downtown public library Thursday night.
The panel commemorated the fifth anniversary of New Haven’s immigrant-friendly Elm City Resident card. Speakers recounted the controversy that accompanied the card’s rollout, then the changes that occurred in town. Then they considered where the quest for immigration reform heads next amid the continuing fractious national debate.
Click here to read a story about the card and the anniversary.
Thursday night’s panel featured Kica Matos, the former city official who oversaw the implementation of the card; and a panel discussion including DREAM Act activist Hafid Dumet (pictured), Frank Sharry of America’s Voice, and New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar.
Meanwhile, journalists from La Voz Hispana, the New Haven Register and the Independent live-blogged the event. Click on the box below to follow the step-by-step account of the event from the live blog. (It begins at the bottom and proceeds in reverse chronological order.)
Frank Sharry, Hafid Dumet, and Roland Lemar.
