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New Haven Opts to Validate Its Illegal Residents
By Caitlin Carpenter
The Christian Science Monitor
Tuesday 17 July 2007
The Connecticut city begins issuing ID
cards July 24 to undocumented immigrants, a first in the US.
New Haven, Conn. - At a time when a rising number of states and cities are
cracking down on illegal immigrants, New Haven, Conn., is reaching out to them
with a unique perk: an ID card.
Besides serving as identification for bank services and if police ask for ID,
the card can be used at municipal locations such as libraries, beaches, and
parks - and as a debit card for city parking meters and at 15 downtown
shops.
Cities - and critics - across the country are watching closely
as New Haven prepares to hand out its first batch of cards July 24. The idea:
integrate illegal immigrants into the community, protect them from crime that
can happen because of a lack of documentation, and encourage them to be more
willing to report crimes to police. Reaction to the first-of-a-kind program
has been swift and sharp, illustrating the wide divide in US public opinion
over the issue.
"We're the only city nationwide to have this program, so it's an opportunity
we have to take to be a part of normal life in the community," says Maria,
an illegal immigrant living here, who plans to pick up her card when it's available
next week. She says illegal immigrants are targeted by muggers, who know they
carry cash because they can't get a bank account without an ID.
But New Haven's move has also prompted protests.
"The city is selling out legal Americans," says Bill Farrel, one
of a dozen members of the Yankee Patriot Association, which is a New England
coalition opposing illegal immigration. The members demonstrated outside City
Hall July 1 carrying American flags and wearing hard hats. "The illegals
are taking jobs from guys that wear these kinds of hats."
Illegal immigrants account for 15,000 of New Haven's population of 120,000,
according to Mr. Farrel, and he expects thousands more will come after the ID
program gets under way. That's a theme that critics of the New Haven plan have
taken up nationally.
For example, the Americans for Legal Immigration PAC has distributed fliers
in 40 states mocking the proposal by urging illegal immigrants to go to New
Haven. The fliers included a map with directions to the city.
"Let a few thousand more go there and use their [social] services until
New Haven needs to ask for federal assistance," says William Gheen, president
of the group, based in North Carolina. The city is committing a felony by abetting
illegal immigrants and "any terrorists among them," he charges.
Politically, New Haven's plan goes against the grain. For example, 48 state-level
bills regarding immigration and documentation were introduced this year, according
to the National Conference of State Legislatures. All 48 looked to restrict
illegal immigrants. At the local-government level, 100 of 130 immigration ordinances
introduced last year were called "anti-immigrant" in an online database
of Fair Immigration Reform Movement, which advocates immigrants' rights and
is based in Washington.
In New Haven, the main motivation for the ID cards was public safety, says
Kica Matos, the city's community services administrator and a main initiator
of the program. One reason the illegal immigrant community doesn't trust the
police and doesn't come forward to report crimes is that police invariably ask
to see ID.
The proposal sailed through the board of aldermen last month 25 to 1. The mayor
was supportive. Yale Law School provided legal representation and advice. Local
immigrant-rights groups lobbied for it,
"We're small enough that this issue is very much in people's consciousness,"
Ms. Matos says, "They live and work with undocumented immigrants.... Everyone
is somewhat touched by them in their everyday life."
The card isn't just for illegal immigrants, either, Matos says. It was designed
to be useful for all residents, she adds, so it wouldn't be regarded as a "scarlet
U" for "undocumented."
The city has fielded calls from governments and immigrant-rights groups in
New York, San Francisco, and Washington State, she says. "There's a lot
of buzz around the card, but they're waiting for us to get our program rolling."
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