Posted on 07/23/2007 12:21:30 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As many U.S. cities and states arrest illegal immigrants in raids and toughen laws against them, a Connecticut city is offering to validate them under a controversial, first-in-the-nation ID card program.
Starting Tuesday, New Haven will offer illegal immigrants municipal identification cards that allow access to city services such as libraries and a chance to open bank accounts.
Supporters say the cards will improve public safety and give undocumented workers protections now afforded legal residents. Critics contend it will unleash a flood of illegal immigration, straining services and wasting taxpayer money.
New Haven officials overwhelmingly approved the program last month in a 25 to 1 vote.
Backers and detractors alike say the program appears to fill a vacuum after Congress failed to act on immigration reform, leaving many towns and cities to struggle with how to deal with a growing undocumented population.
Kica Matos, who administers the program for New Haven, said undocumented workers are often targeted by thieves and robbed because they carry cash, a result of not being able to open a bank account.
"Part of the reason they can't open bank accounts is because they don't have forms of identification that were valid," she said.
She said two banks had already agreed to accept the new city card, which will be offered to all New Haven residents, as legitimate identification sufficient for opening an account.
Local Latino advocacy group Junta for Progressive Action estimates 3,000 to 5,000 illegal immigrants live in the city of 124,000 people, many from Mexico, Ecuador and Guatemala.
Yale University Law School, based in New Haven, helped research the city's idea and volunteered legal services. Several immigrants' rights groups also helped build up local support for the identification cards.
PROTESTS
Opponents hope to rally the public against it. Southern Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Reform says the ID cards will change "the entire country as we know it" and is organizing a protest on Tuesday at city hall.
"There are millions of illegal aliens right around us that when these ID cards are available to them, they will rush to them and get some identification that will allow them to go to other cities," said Ted Pechinski, who leads the group.
North Carolina-based Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has circulated a flier in 40 states urging illegal workers to move to New Haven, said its president William Gheen.
"Maybe New Haven needs to learn, if they want the illegals, then they'll get the illegals," he said.
His flier, in English and Spanish, says: "Come to New Haven CT for sanctuary. Bring your friends and family members quickly."
Officials in several cities including New York and San Francisco have expressed interest in possibly starting similar programs, said Matos.
The new ID, she added, does not easily identify a person as an illegal immigrant. "That is the last thing that we want to have happen," she said. The card was created with several features to appeal to all residents, including a debit component and access to city services such as parks.
Fatima, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, said she is eager to apply for the card. "The ID will help me because it's a way to be in this country and get people to know who you are, especially for people who crossed the border and lost their papers," she said. "I feel safe here in New Haven."
Good idea!!
500000 of em in 6 months : )
LOL!! Hoisted by their own petard : )
From the Wikipedia,
"As of the census² of 2000, there were 123,626 people, 47,094 households, and 25,854 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,532.2/km² (6,558.4/mi²). There were 52,941 housing units at an average density of 1,084.4/km² (2,808.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 43.46% White, 37.36% African American, 0.43% Native American, 3.90% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 10.89% from other races, and 3.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.39% of the population.
Think that number might be a tad higher 7 years later, hmmm?
I don't know if it's still there, but in the 1990s there was an INS facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. I knew some of the Esmor staff at the facility, and they told me that the majority of the detainees in their NJ facility weren't illegals from the Southern Hemisphere (Central/South America), but from the Eastern Hemisphere (Europeans, Africans, and Mediterraneans) or Cuba. While the percentages may have changed since 1995 or 9/11, there's simply no way that the racial make-up of illegal immigrants in the New England states is the same as in those states along the US/Mexico border. What Connecticut is doing IMO isn't going to benefit Hispanic Mexican illegals - there's too few of them there to be a sizable voting bloc. It's posturing and pandering by the CT leftie govt. to the CT leftie voters.
ping
American Heritage Dictionary -
jun·ta
n.
1. A group of military officers ruling a country after seizing power.
Hmmmm......
susie
Nah, they’ll all move to a certain ghetto in the Bronx so they can sell oranges to all the gay people trying to watch some other gay people play baseball in pinstripes...;-)
The Mexican population has exploded in NY/NJ/CT from nothing to hundreds of thousands in just 15 years (see New Brunswick and Freehold). Nevertheless, many of the illegals here are actually from South America (especially Ecuador), Africa, and even eastern Europe.
Any FReepers/Lurkers want to contact William Gheen and get some of those Spanish/English flyers encouraging illegals to go there?
Americans for Legal Immigration PAC
Post Office Box 30966,
Raleigh, NC 27622-0966
Tel: (919) 787-6009
WilliamG@alipac.us
Toll Free: (866) 329-3999
Do the Hollywood moviemakers need more extras?
Don’t these liberals realize they will be overrun by illegals because of this. What a bunch of losers.
Section 8 USC 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv)(b)(iii) “Any person who . . . encourages or induces an illegal alien to . . . reside . . . knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that such . . . residence is . . . in violation of law, shall be punished as provided . . . for each illegal alien in respect to whom such a violation occurs . . . fined under title 18 . . . imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.”
Section 274 felonies under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, INA 274A(a)(1)(A):
A person (including a group of persons, business, organization, or local government) commits a federal felony when she or he:
· assists an illegal alien s/he should reasonably know is illegally in the U.S. or who lacks employment authorization, by transporting, sheltering, or assisting him or her to obtain employment, or · encourages that illegal alien to remain in the U.S. by referring him or her to an employer or by acting as employer or agent for an employer in any way, or · knowingly assists illegal aliens due to personal convictions. ·
Penalties upon conviction include criminal fines, imprisonment, and forfeiture of vehicles and real property used to commit the crime. Anyone employing or contracting with an illegal alien without verifying his or her work authorization status is guilty of a misdemeanor. Aliens and employers violating immigration laws are subject to arrest, detention, and seizure of their vehicles or property. In addition, individuals or entities who engage in racketeering enterprises that commit (or conspire to commit) immigration-related felonies are subject to private civil suits for treble damages and injunctive relief.
Flyer (mostly in Spanish)inviting illegals to relocate to New Haven, CT. It’s a PDF...feel free to print them up and distribute where illegal aliens might congregate:
http://www.alipac.us/media/NewHavenCTFinal.PDF
I've got $1000 that says illegal Hispanics outnumber illegal Irish in New England
Any freepers in the area should go in and get ID cards too.
Jam the system and point out the idiocy of what they are doing.
Okay then how do we know they are using their real names? I believe that over 80 percent will not tell the truth.
Well, that’s just the LAW. We don’t enforce the law against criminal invaders any more. Didn’t you get the memo?
I moved to a county in North Florida that has hardly any illegals that I can see, so it wouldn’t do much good.
I moved to a county in North Florida that has hardly any illegals that I can see, so it wouldn’t do much good.
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