As immigration proponents and foes battle in Danbury, a new study shows that while federal immigration cases have risen sharply, Connecticut cases are down from a year ago.
Danbury found itself in national headlines earlier this year, after a federal judge allowed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to deport nine day laborers turned over to the agency by Danbury undercover police officers. In February the Danbury Common Council approved a measure to allow ICE officials to train city police officers.
Last month, the Rev. Al Sharpton protested the deportations in Danbury, and the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Danbury inserted itself in the debate by joining the New Sanctuary Movement, which encourages faith organizations to help families facing deportation.
The issue continued to bubble over last week, after John DeStefano, New Haven mayor and 2006 gubernatorial candidate, reiterated his support for municipal ID cards for immigrants at a conference at John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York.
Syracuse University researchers recently noted a 38 percent drop in federal prosecutions in Connecticut of illegal immigrants in February 2007, and a corresponding drop in convictions and sentences.
Figures for the New York City area and the nation were up over the same period, by contrast, as ICE continues its Operation Streamline crackdown on illegal immigration from Mexico.
In Danbury, the city”™s municipal mechanisms have been overwhelmed by immigrants from Brazil and Ecuador. A 2006 study determined that Danbury has the highest percentage population of foreign-born residents at 34 percent, compared with a statewide figure of 13 percent.
As early as 2002, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton formally began lobbying for federal immigration reform, urging Congress to address the challenges local governments face with undocumented residents.
In December 2005, Boughton organized Mayors and Executives for Immigration Reform, along with Suffolk County (N.Y.) Executive Steve Levy. The group”™s goal is to pressure the federal government to deal with the impact of illegal immigration on municipalities.
Later that year, Boughton spoke at an immigration and fraud-prevention conference in Sao Paolo, Brazil, noting Danbury”™s large numbers of new residents from Brazil, Ecuador and other countries. He proposed that federal authorities develop ways to predict whether a foreign visitor is at higher risk of overstaying their visa.
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“Many of these new arrivals have difficulty finding employment with enough earning power to sustain the cost of living in Danbury,” Boughton said. “This challenge forces them to seek substandard housing in illegal, overpopulated apartments that create dangerous and unsafe living conditions. Traditional apartments in our older neighborhoods have become illegal rooming houses and severely impacted many neighborhoods. Illegal apartments have forced us to focus precious local resources by developing a task force to address this challenge.”
Still, Danbury”™s efforts to cope with the volume of immigrants could hamstring its enviable business climate. While opponents argue immigration swipes jobs that might go to U.S. citizens, Danbury already has among the lowest unemployment rates in the Northeast. Many small businesses like restaurants and landscapers depend on the immigration pipeline to furnish a hardworking work force willing to work at wages below the prevailing rate in other industries.
Talent for Growth CT-NY, which is preparing to invest $5 million in federal funding for work-force development in lower Fairfield County and Westchester County, N.Y., is making immigrant training a cornerstone of its program.
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