Unlike some other cities, New Haven embracing illegal immigrants

NEW HAVEN, Conn. --While many cities across the country look for ways to keep illegal immigrants out, this liberal enclave, home to Yale University, is embracing them.

The mostly Democratic Board of Aldermen voted 25-1 this week to create all-purpose municipal identification cards designed to allow illegal immigrants to open bank accounts and take advantage of other services that may be unavailable without driver's licenses or state-issued IDs.

Supporters say the program, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, will help keep the city's estimated 15,000 illegal immigrants safe. If they can open bank accounts they will not need to carry large amounts of cash, a practice that makes them easy targets for robbers.

The New Haven vote comes as more than 90 cities or counties around the country, including Valley Park, Mo.; Riverside, N.J.; Escondido, Calif.; and Hazleton, Pa., have proposed, passed or rejected laws prohibiting landlords from leasing to illegal immigrants, penalizing businesses that employ undocumented workers or training police to enforce immigration laws.

New Haven, a city of about 125,000, already offers federal tax help to immigrants and prohibits police from asking about their immigration status.

"It was really a vote that reflected our values as a community here in New Haven, values of hard work, values of acceptance, and values that we get tough things done when we work together," Mayor John DeStefano said Tuesday, a day after aldermen agreed to accept $250,000 from a private foundation to pay for cards that will serve as identification within city limits.

Approval of the new IDs, which should be available in July, was good news for immigrants like Miguel Cienfuendes, whose brother was stabbed to death last fall. Cienfuendes, who moved to New Haven from Mexico, lives in fear of being robbed and said the IDs will be helpful.

"I don't walk the streets any more," Cienfuendes said recently, speaking through an interpreter. "Where we live it's scary. We don't know when they are going to come after us thinking we have money."

Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that favors vigorous immigration enforcement, called the cards largely symbolic. He said most illegal immigrants who want bank accounts or need city services have probably already found ways to get them.

"It seems like the main thing that's going on here is really just a statement by the city that it wishes to subvert U.S. immigration law with a largely meaningless gesture for illegals," he said.

Proposals designed to make life easier for illegal immigrants were more popular before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he said. The trend has shifted since then, with more towns and cities cracking down on illegal immigration.

Yale law professor Michael Wishnie said the ID cards, which immigrant advocacy groups recommended, will help illegal immigrants more fully participate in civic life. They do not, he said, entitle immigrants to special treatment.

"They're simply saying if you're already eligible for something, like a bank account or a library card, and this will help you get the thing you're already eligible for, then we'll facilitate it," he said.

Wishnie said he does not believe the federal government will try to use the new cards to target or track New Haven's illegal immigrants.

"There is no guarantee, but there are several reasons why I'm not concerned," he said.

Even if the government did request records from the New Haven ID program, they would probably not be particularly useful, he said. The IDs will not distinguish between citizens and illegal immigrants, and only about a third of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. are likely to show up in any type of government database.

The proposal drew criticism from small but vocal local groups, mostly from outside the city.

Bill Farrel, a roofer from suburban North Branford, is part of Southern Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Reform, a group that protested outside City Hall before Monday's vote to approve the IDs and is considering legal action.

"If they can choose what laws they're going to obey, how about me?" he said. "I'm a hard-working guy. Would it be OK for me to go rob a bank if I used the proceeds to feed my family? I don't think so."

Cities have long issued cards for programs such as access to beaches, but officials say New Haven will be the first to issue all-purpose municipal ID cards for residents including undocumented immigrants. Residents will also be able to load the cards with money for downtown parking meters and businesses. They will cost $5 for children and $10 for adults.

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Associated Press writer John Christoffersen in New Haven contributed to this report.