New Haven Officials Urge Suspension of Immigration Raids

According to an Associated Press story on the online version of The Republican American of Waterbury, CT, New Haven city officials have asked the U.S. government to suspend immigration raids because of concerns that laws were violated. In a recent raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, 30 immigrants were arrested.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano claimed that the arrests were conducted without search warrants and some of the immigrants were arrested in their homes. AP quotes DeStefano as saying, "They pushed into homes without warrants. This was just very aggressive intervention."

DeStefano's allegations were denied by Bruce Chadbourne, a field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said that his people had permission to enter the homes and that they acted properly. Chadbourne said that he would suspend the raids, because of the danger to the agents. "I don't want to put the lives of my officers in jeopardy on the street," Chadbourne told AP. He did say, however, that the raids would continue, as his agency tries to enforce federal immigration laws.

This is not the first time that Immigration officials have come under fire for the way in which they allegedly conducted their raids. An article on the Minnesota Public Radio website also alleges illegal actions on the part of agents in raids conducted in several Minnesota cities.

The New Haven raids came soon after a city-approved program made municipal ID cards available to illegal immigrants, although Immigration officials deny that there was any connection between the ID program and the raids. The ID program is an indication of the openness of New Haven toward immigrants. More than many other cities, New Haven has offered help to immigrants in terms of taxes and restricting what police can ask immigrants about their status.

Connecticut's Senators, Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, and Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro have contacted Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security Secretary asking for details about the raid. AP quotes from a letter written to Chertoff, "Several aspects of the enforcement operation have raised concerns for us, the mayor of New Haven, and many residents in Connecticut."

Witnesses of the raid in New Haven have provided statements to city officials who will forward them federal officials. According to AP, agents refused to identify themselves and were rude to people in the raided houses. Michael Wishnie, who is representing most of the arrested immigrants, told AP, "You can't use an arrest warrant to go into a home to arrest whoever happens to be there. They lacked consent and they lacked a search warrant. These home invasions were unlawful."

Sources:
Republican American, Officials urge federal agents to stop immigration raids, http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=25476&p=1

MPR, Willmar on edge after raids, minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/04/12/willmarraids/