El Canillita gets the HUGE scoop and interviews the four day laborers who were picked up by ICE and recently freed from prision this week. Here's all the stuff the News-Times failed to report in their "story" including how the people were treated after they were arrested.

(This is an Engligh translation of the article. It's somewhat choppy but readable).

Four of the eleven workers detained by ICE on Tuesday September 19th in the Kennedy Park area were freed on the afternoon of October 4th.

After the mobilization of solidarity and assistance that sprung up from these unjust detentions, as soon as [luego que] DACORIM, Centro Cívico Ecuatoreano (Ecuadorean Civic Center), and the Danbury Peace Coalition and other area immigrant rights organizations and many members of the community got involved, these four workers were released. On top of all this support came the extraordinary pro bono work of attorney Dr. Michael Wishnie, a Yale professor of immigrant law, and his law students.

On October 4th, after 16 days in detention, the four who were released by ICE after posting $1500 bond included: Isaac Maldonado; José Eduardo Duma; Juan Alberto Barrera y José Froilán Llivisupa. Thanks to the support and solidarity of countless men and women, these four Ecuadoreans could return to their community.

José Froilán Llivisupa, one of those released, provided additional details on the detention in an exclusive interview with El Canellita. He said "Every day we go out to the Kennedy Park ["parada" - bus stop -- pickup area?] to look for work. It was 7:30 AM. A van came and said four people were needed. Then it came again and said four more people in total were needed. and since I wanted to work, I went. When I asked what kind of work it was, he said that a construction fence had to be taken down and said, 'We're going to pay you today (en el dia).' So I got into the van and sat in back and went along." Once in the van, they were taken directly to the parking lot behind the Danbury Executive Tower at 30 Main Street. There they were thrown on the ground and handcuffed and then driven to the Danbury police station. At the police station, fingerprints and photos were taken and their personal effects were confiscated.

Llivisupa said, “The only thing they told us was that they needed someone to work. When we arrived at the police station, they didn’t ask us anything [like whether they had papers or could show their legal status].”

Apparently from Danbury those detained were driven to New Haven. In New Haven they were put in jail overnight. The next day they were taken to Hartford. " In Hartford they put us in a cell, took off the (chains/hand and ankle cuffs)." The cells were completely bare with a concrete floor. " I felt treated like a criminal - they didn't give us anything to eat which is only decent (uno se merece) -- not even a sandwich and a little water. " Later they were taken to Boston.

[no other details provided about Boston part of incarceration.]

“Today the (agente de authoridad -"authority agent") told us ‘You are going home.’ I was in a cell with one of the 11 detainees. They opened the door, they made me sit on a chair outside the cell, they made me put on my clothes, they returned my things, cell phone, money and belt (correa) and they took my fingerprints again. From there, we waited till they took us out to a white van. We got in and they let us go in Boston, told us we were free, so we kept walking, caught a taxi, and we went to the Bonanza pickup location ("parada" - bus stop? worker pickup location?) and they [friends? lawyer?] were looking for us. Thank God and thanks to the everyone in Danbury that fought for this good cause.”

“We aren’t terrorists, we came to work, we want to study, it’s unfair, and there was no justification or reason for what they have done to us.”

The message to his fellow workers is, "To everyone who works in Danbury Connecticut, Let's respect the rules and standards of this country." ("El mensaje a sus compañeros trabajadores es “A todas las personas que trabajamos en Danbury, CT, que seamos correctos que respetemos las reglas y normas que existen en este país.”)

It is hoped that the rest of the group of 11 detainees will have the same good fortune, but at the moment we don’t know when they will be released.

It's unfortunate that the News-Times is unwilling to simply go and report on this story from a personal perspective like El Canillita did. If you read the News-Times, you just get jargin and spin from the Mayor and those involved in the ICE sweep. You never get to hear the story told from the people who were effected the most...the day laborer themselves.

This case is not as black and white as the mayor tried to make it on public access. I hope that the media will take the time, go into the community, and ge the real story and expose how Boughton's radical policy is creating a climate of fear and distrust throughout the community.

Here again is People-Powered media in action. This story will be racing across the blogs in short time and will expose again how poor the local media when it comes to getting the REAL story.

Hats off to the people at El Canillita for their fine work in properly reporting this informative story from a human perspective. Thumbs down again to the News-Times for writing an article that looks like it was done by a reporter who didn't bother to leave the desk when researching this story.

NOTE: A better translation of this story will be posted later.

NOTE 2: Article has been updated.