Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

January 04, 2006

Illegal Immigration Protest Planned in Danbury, CT

From the Danbury News-Times:

DANBURY — A controversial anti-illegal immigrant group is planning a "Stop the Invasion" demonstration Saturday at Kennedy Park.

Latino day laborers gather each morning around Kennedy Park, between Kennedy Avenue and Elm Street, hoping to be hired by contractors.

Note the use of the word "controversial." What's controversial about wanting to stem the tide of illegal immigrants? The word illegal should imply that simply by being here, these people are violating our laws. No one would call a group like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) controversial, would they? Drunk driving is against the law too.

If you read the whole article, you will see that some who support the cause don't think that this demonstration will do much more than create a wave of publicity, and that other approaches are more effective. Perhaps that is true, but publicity stunts can sometimes have value--if only to draw attention to a problem.

Maria-Cinta Lowe, executive director of the Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury, said members of Streitz' group are troublemakers who should be ignored.

"They are racist. They are bigots. They are ignorant. We do not need people like them in Danbury, and we do not need them in Connecticut," Lowe said.

Like how the race card is played? If the majority of illegals in Danbury were from another ethnic group, Lowe would not be complaining about racism. There is nothing racist about wanting to tighten our borders and enforce the laws that already exist. I also think it would be nice to be able to round up all illegals and deport them, but how realistic that is remains to be seen.

There is a movement to change the 14th amendment which grants automatic citizenship to any baby born here, regardless of the immigration (legal or illegal) status of its parents. That's a step in the right direction.

As of April of last year, illegals made up 19% of Danbury's population. Considering the drain on public services (i.e. school and healthcare), this is a major issue for Danbury and cities like it. Mayor Mark Boughton has gotten a lot of flak for his attempts to deal with the problem.

Some reading this will automatically say I am anti-immigrant. That is not true. I am against those who sneak in, find work, send that untaxed money back to their home country, and expect to have their children educated and their healthcare needs met. And what about those who have immigrated here legally, jumping through all of the hoops, only to see others taking what they have rightfully earned? It angers a friend of mine, who came here legally from India when she was 11 and became a citizen about 10 years later.

I am going to try to see if I can make it to the demonstration. It could be very interesting!