Vol. 72/No. 10      March 10, 2008

More than 3,000 rallied in Danbury February 6 to protest a proposal for local police to cooperate with immigration authorities. Buses from Hartford and New Haven brought people to the action, and several high school students participated. Many local businesses owned by immigrants shut down in solidarity.

Also protesting were members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1199. On January 24 two agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guarded the doors of 1199’s office in Hartford while three agents went inside. They arrested Miriem Kamtengeni, a union worker, and took union files.

The Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund hosted a meeting February 21 to respond to this attack on the unions by the government. Funds to aid in Kamtengeni’s defense are being requested. Checks should be made out to her husband, Evance Kamtengeni, and mailed to: SEIU/1199, c/o Steve Thorton, 77 Huyshope Ave., Hartford, CT 06106.  
 
Anti-immigrant measures
The day of the Danbury protest, the city council there approved the proposal for local cops to enforce immigration laws under section 287(g) of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. That section authorizes federal immigration officials to enter into agreements with state and local cops to enforce immigration laws. Danbury is the first city in Connecticut to request such authorization and training for local police.

Danbury has a population of about 90,000 with an estimated 10,000 undocumented workers. Some 34 percent of its residents are foreign-born, the highest percentage of any city in Connecticut. Mayor Mark Boughton has been pushing anti-immigrant measures, from the recently passed resolution to a city ordinance prohibiting more than 25 people to gather without a permit. That law was aimed against immigrant day laborers who congregate on street corners waiting for work.

In September 2006, Danbury police organized a sting operation where an undercover cop posing as a potential employer lured 11 day laborers into a van. He then drove to a site where ICE agents arrested the workers. Two were deported. On February 4 a federal judge denied a request to stop deportation proceedings against the remaining nine workers. Lawyers plan to appeal the ruling.
 
 
Related articles:
Vietnamese in Seattle discuss pact that could lead to deportation of thousands
U.S. socialist candidate solidarizes with Canada antideportation struggle  
 
 
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