Karl Rove on Immigration: "I don't want my son to have to pick tomatoes"

Friday, February 09, 2007
Time: 6:14 PM

Well, I guess Mayor Boughton, Paul Streitz, Elise Marciano, Jim Gilchrist, Congressman Tom Tancredo, Congressman Duncan Hunter, Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan, and the rest of the ultra-conservative, right-winged, anti-immigrant extremists can kiss any dream of the Bush administration passing stricter immigration enforcement goodbye.

Karl Rove is expressing a belief that many Republicans say in private...the only difference here is that Rove was caught flapping his fat mouth.
The Corner at the National Review Online reports that at a Republican luncheon yesterday White House adviser Karl Rove was overheard explaining the Bush amnesty immigration plan by saying, "I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes or make beds in Las Vegas."

Excepts from "The Corner" article below:

#

There should be no need to explain why this is an obscene statement coming from a leader in the party that promotes the virtues of hard work, thrift, and sobriety, a party whose demi-god actually split fence rails as a young man, a party where "respectable Republican cloth coat" once actually meant something. But it does seem to be necessary to explain.

Rove's comment illustrates how the Bush-McCain-Giuliani-Hagel-Martinez-Brownback-Huckabee approach to immigration strikes at the very heart of self-government. It is precisely Rove's son (and my own, and those of the rest of us in the educated elite) who should work picking tomatoes or making beds, or washing restaurant dishes, or mowing lawns, especially when they're young, to help them develop some of the personal and civic virtues needed for self-government. It's not that I want my kids to make careers of picking tomatoes; Mexican farmworkers don't want that either. But we must inculcate in our children, especially those likely to go on to high-paying occupations, that there is no such thing as work that is beneath them.
Gotta love those high-class Republicans in the Bush administration...January 2009 can't get here fast enough.

UPDATE: Huffington Post picks up on the story.

DON'T INTERRUPT ME! DON'T INTERRUPT ME!


Time: 1:28 PM


Rep. Chris Shays is a real class act.


Here's the pride and joy of the 4th District repeatedly admonishing Katy Helvenston-Wettengel (who was only trying to answer Shays questions within his endless and shameless rant).


Who is Katy Helvenston-Wettengel you ask? Well, she just happens to be one of the relatives of the four American contractors who providing private security in Iraq that were ambushed by a mob and their bodies dragged through the streets of Fallujah.


Helvenston-Wettengel, and three other relatives of the victims, testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday about the outrageous conditions their loved ones were forced to deal with while working as contractors in Iraq (i.e., lack of body armour, lack of amour ed cars, no maps, etc).



After these individuals fought back tears testifying about the recounting how the contractors, were sent out into the meat grinder called Iraq without the protective equipment they were promised, the Republicans wasted no time and doing what they do best...attack the messenger. Shays grilling and belittling of Helvenston-Wettengel was so offensive that Rep. Henry Waxman apparently had enough of the 4th District Congressman and pulled the plug on him.


Watch and puke...


PEREIRA RELEASED


Time: 1:20 AM

Here's the latest in the Tereza Pereira immigration case.

I'm currently working on more information regarding this case and hopefully, I'll be able to update everyone soon.

Many questions remain unanswered...

They scooped me again

Thursday, February 08, 2007
Time: 12:04 PM

Grr, I should had posted the video last night.

The News-Times came out with an update on the Tereza Pereira case and it's worth a read.

As I stated yesterday, I was at an immigration forum in Wilton which featured Pereira lawyer Michael Boyle and he commented on the case as well as he feelings towards Mayor Mark Boughton and the Danbury 11 case.

Since the newspaper beat me to the punch regarding Pereira's status, I'll post the video highlights from the forum later today.

Coming attractions

Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Time: 11:44 PM

Just came back from the immigration forum in Wilton and lets just say that it was rather interesting...

I'll give everyone a fulll wrap-up including video of the entire forum tomorrow (as well as some late breaking news regarding the Tereza Pereira case).

I'm going to bed but before I go, is it me or will everyone miss Tortilla Flats. Great food, cheap price, and an awsome happy hour.

...AND enough sushi bars already!

Mark Langlois beat me to the story


Time: 12:29 PM

Oh damn.

I've been working hard on the Dunkin Dounuts story on the corner of Springside Ave and Osborne Street but because I was busy with the redesigning of thiss site, I held off on publishing the piece.

Mark Langlois wrote a piece on the Dunkin Dounuts drama in today's News-Times and it's worth reading if you want a brief explanation on the situation. Since I've been heavily involved in this story, I'm going to take this story to the next level (remember when I said I traveled through all the wards in Danbury and talk to people about their anger about development...)

AGAIN, the issue during this election will be D-E-V-E-L-O-P-M-E-N-T and the mayor and the elected officials who allowed this idiotic over development to take place in our city will be held accountable for their actions.

It's not about a 311 system.

It's not about a sexual offender ordinance.

It's not about a so-called "parade ordinance" (which has nothing to do with parades and more to do with not allowing more than 20 people to demonstrate (i.e., police union) without the city's approval).

It's not about the so-called crackdown on illegals (which was yielded nothing in the last two years of the mayor "addressing" the issue NOR has decreased the flow of illegals making Danbury their home NOR has yielded ONE arrest of a contractor rips off the city in taxes by hiring an undocumented day laborer on the cheap).

It's ABOUT D-E-V-E-L-O-P-M-E-N-T and over the course of the year, I'm going to do something that no one has done, let the citizens of Danbury explain this to everyone in their own words and I'm going to start with this IDIOTIC Dunkin Dounuts proposal.

Outrageous.

Boughton backs out from speaking at immigration forum

Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Time: 1:55 PM

I was planning on attending this interesting immigration forum in quiet little Wilton
The Wilton League of Women Voters and the Wilton Library are once again combining forces to offer a program on a “hot issue.” The topic this time is Immigration. On Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m., in the Brubeck Room of the Wilton Library. Two outspoken advocates for immigration reform, Michael Boyle and Mark Boughton, will debate this important issue.

Michael Boyle is an immigration attorney from North Haven and Danbury. He is president of the Connecticut Immigration Attorneys Association and speaks frequently on the legal problems faced by immigrants. His private practice deals with green cards, citizenship, human rights, deportation defense and other immigration issues, some in high-profile cases.

Mark Boughton is the mayor of Danbury, with first-hand experience with an expanding immigrant population. He argues for stronger federal enforcement of immigration law and deputization of state police officers as immigration officers. Illegal immigrants, he says, have strained Danbury’s housing and overloaded city services: fire, police, hospital.
Suddenly, without "explaination," Mayor Boughton bows out of the forum at the last minute.
It is likely that a large number of people will attend, as this event has attracted wide attention outside Wilton. Those who have pre-registered will be guaranteed space in the Brubeck Room of the Library, provided they arrive by 7:30 PM. Once the Brubeck Room is filled to its permitted capacity, additional audience members will be seated in the Library gallery where they will be able to hear the discussion.

There will be one speaker, Michael Boyle, an immigration attorney with offices in North Haven and Danbury. Mr. Boyle will talk about the legal issues involved in immigration and share his experiences and insights in this field. Following his presentation, the public will have an opportunity to ask questions or to express an opinion. Mayor Mark Boughton, a previously announced participant, has withdrawn.
I guess due to the wide spread interest regarding this forum, the mayor thought twice about attending the event (given his past statements when he debated immigration lawyer Boyle, him dropping out of the forum was probably a VERY smart move since there is a possible lawsuit heading in city of Danbury's direction.

Since the lawyers representing the Danbury 11 filed an FOI request, the mayor has been very hesitiant on speaking about immigration even going as far as refusing to talk about the issue with the Danbury News-Times as well as members of the local anti-immigrantion group that met with the mayor recently. At HatCityBLOG, you don't have to go far to read, see, and hear Boughton's words regarding immigration on the record from past forums including a certain event recently where the mayor made some rather "puzzling" comments regarding solving the immigration problem.

...developing.

How ya like me now?


Time: 12:08 PM

I'm getting great feedback on the new layout so I guess people like what they see.

Again, I'm counting on you guys to test the site out. Hit every link, try out every video and make sure to test out the soon-to-be-released new features and let me know if something doesn't work correctly.

HatCityBLOG 3.0 is now ONLINE.

Hate rising


Time: 8:49 AM

The News-Times reported on the rise in supremacist anti-immigrant groups in the United States. As a supplement to the article, I strongly encourage everyone to check out the well-recognized non-partisan Southern Law Poverty Center where you can monitor the activities of most (if not all supremacist) groups.

Contary to the beleives of the voices of the delusionals who try to make "a point" by pointing to conservative extermists who supported the Japenese internment camps of World war II as well as racial profiling, they're are well-documented ties between the Minuteman Project and neo-Nazi organizations as the SPLC carefully explains.
For months, Jim Gilchrist promised that his Minuteman Project would peacefully observe the Arizona border as a protest against illegal immigration. Volunteers — he said there would be 1,300 of them — would be carefully screened, with FBI help, to keep out white supremacists and racists. No one would be allowed to bear guns except those who had permits to carry concealed weapons.

Gilchrist said that critics who called his group "vigilantes" — naysayers who included President Bush — were absolutely wrong about his volunteers.

Indeed, Gilchrist told USA Today, these men and women sought only to bring attention to a major social problem. Most were "white Martin Luther Kings."

Maybe so. But Gilchrist's accuracy has been less than sterling.

As the month-long April project started, some 300 volunteers showed up — a thousand fewer than predicted. An FBI official denied that the agency was screening Gilchrist's or any other private group's members. At least four-fifths of volunteers did carry weapons, and almost none were checked for permits. Racist talk abounded. And at least some neo-Nazis and other racists did join in Gilchrist's project.

On April 2, as the month-long effort got under way, the Minuteman Project held a protest across the street from the U.S. Border Patrol headquarters in Naco, Ariz. Prominent among the demonstrators were two men who confided that they were members of the Phoenix chapter of the National Alliance — the largest neo-Nazi group in America. One of the two, who sat in lawn chairs throughout, held a sign with arrows depicting invading armies of people from Mexico — a sign identical to National Alliance billboards and pamphlets, except without the Alliance logo.

The presence of Alliance members was not much of a surprise, and there were likely more than that pair. "We're not going to show up as a group and say, 'Hi, we're the National Alliance," Alliance official Shaun Walker told a reporter in the run-up to the protest. "But we have members ... that will participate."

In fact, National Alliance pamphlets were distributed in Tombstone and this predominantly Hispanic community just two days before the Minuteman Project got going. "Non-Whites are turning America into a Third World slum," they read. "They come for welfare or to take our jobs. Let's send them home now."

Many other white supremacists had promised to attend, including members of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations,
but it was difficult to know if they showed up.

One well-known extremist did appear. Armored in a flak jacket and packing a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver, Joe McCutchen joined other volunteers patrolling the barbed wire fence separating the United States and Mexico near Bisbee, Ariz.

McCutchen is the recently appointed chairman of Protect Arkansas Now, a group seeking to pass legislation that would deny public benefits to undocumented workers in that state. More to the point, he was identified by the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens as a member in 2001 — a charge he denies, though he admits that he did give a speech that year to the group that has described blacks as "a retrograde species of humanity." As recently as summer 2003, McCutchen wrote anti-Semitic letters to his hometown newspaper in Fort Smith, Ark.

[...]

Back in March, Gilchrist had also warned that he had been told that leaders of an extremely violent gang made up of Salvadorans — the Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 — had ordered its members to teach "a lesson" to the Minuteman volunteers. As it turned out, however, no frightening, brown-skinned gangsters showed up.

But the National Alliance was certainly there.
As this new site continues to develop. I'll bring you more information on more documented ties between the Minuteman Project and Neo-Nazi organizations, as well as a bunch of other goodies.

UPDATE: Oh hell, I can't resist. Going after the Minuteman Project is too easy.

First, lets go back to an earlier post I did on the Minutemen and their ties to neo-organizations back in December.

The first clip is from a appearance Gilchrist did on Fox News Hannity and Colmes where he defended white supremacists groups. (via Media Matters)
Here's a partial transcript:
COLMES: Recently, the white supremacy group Aryan Nation has recruited for the Minuteman Project, promoting the protest as a white pride event. This is who you're participating with here.

GILCHRIST: I have -- Alan, I have no control over someone posting an e-mail. I know what you're talking about. I've been to that Stormfront website. I have put a warning on our website -- you are not welcome here if you're a member of any supremacist group, whether it be of any color, race or creed.

Alan, there are supremacist groups out there of all races, colors and creeds. It's not just white supremacists. Why are you picking on them? There are brown. There are purple. There are red.
Amazing.

Now, I'll offer this video for the cherry on top. Not long ago, Gilchrist made an appearance at Columbia University which caused a huge counter protest by students who stormed the stage and held banners against the Minutemen.

Now, here's where Gilchrist and his defenders tried to lie to the public.

Gilchrist tired to make it seem like HE was being attacked by the students when in fact it was his Minutemen goons who attacked the students with one of Gilchrist's goons kicking a student in the head.

Well, Gilchrist came on Democracy NOW and tried to debate the head organizer of the counter student protest at Columbia and he suddenly cut the interview short when challenged about the incident and his ties to the National Alliance.

Watch the video and see the coward in action.

Now, lets take a look at the famous Minuteman anti-immigration rally held on July 30 in Laguna Beach CA. Note the neo-nazis proudly waving their flags along side members of the minutemen in the photographs.



Here's an account of the incident from the radical xenophobe site Stromfront.
The flags came out in the last few moments of the protest. The commies were chanting "Nazis Go Home" for hours on end non-stop, so I and everyone present on the street in the hot sun, facing hostile commies, browns, and who-knows-what greenlighted the flag idea. We will stand behind our decision.

If anyone wants to do it differently, come with us and tell us then and there.

Besides, this is America and if they can fly their commie flags, burn the US flag, fly their brown flag, we can fly anything we want.
The award-winning blog Orcinus has been documenting the Minutemen and their racist supporters and goes into further detail about the incident as well as other ties between the Minutemen and neo-nazi organizations.
Well, I've been saying all along that the Minutemen's core demographic is constituted of right-wing extremists, including many outright racists.

At a recent anti-immigrant rally in Laguna Beach, the connection was made explicit.

The rally was held July 30. It apparently was a follow-up of sorts to a similar rally held in the same locale on July 16, in which a local anti-immigration activist decided to protest a local arts festival's financial support for a day labor center for undocument workers. This rally drew the participation of the Save Our State campaign (an ostensibly mainstream anti-immigration organization) and the Minutemen's Jim Gilchrist. It also drew a contingent of neo-Nazis.

[...]

What's going on, of course, is that the Minutemen provide an ideal opportunity for white racists to "mainstream" their agenda, using the relatively benign "average citizens" that Lou Dobbs exclusively observes in their ranks as just so much cover. An online report from the July 16 rally discusses this in some detail:
By OCAngel's accounts, the rally she worked hard putting together was indeed a smashing success. More than sixty people showed up, while only five counterdemonstrators appeared to oppose them. Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, an Aliso Viejo resident, dropped by for awhile to pay his respects. Barbara Coe, the venerable Chairwoman of the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR) and co-author of Proposition 187, was also there. And Don Silva (aka "OldPreach"), one of Joe Turner's close allies, was running around dressed in camouflage again, waving around an American flag (for matter of record, the rally itself was not officially endorsed by S.O.S.). {3}

But members of the National Alliance, an avowedly white supremacist organization, appeared to be out in full force that day. In fact, somebody who calls herself occutegirl, perhaps unbeknownst to her at the time, posted a photograph she took of two reputed members of that group on the "Save Our State" website. The photo shows a young woman (alleged to be "dixieland_delight" on the Stormfront White Nationalist Community website) and a man suspected of being her boyfriend holding up a blue banner reading, "DEPORT ILLEGAL ALIENS," with the words, "http://www.SaveOurState.org," emblazoned just underneath them in much smaller type. {4}

After realizing that a good number of "white nationalists" had attended her rally, OCAngel, to her credit, took some steps to distance herself from them. In one cryptic posting on the "Save Our State" website, she hinted publicly to a person who apparently had sent her a private message that they had "an agenda I do not agree with" and would "have preferred your group [possibly the National Alliance] to set up further and separate from us [on Saturday, July 16th], and not aligned yourselves with us in any way. I appreciated that you did not openly flaunt your views ..." {5}

But the truth is, despite OCAngel's apparent despair over all the National Alliance members who showed up to her Laguna Beach rally, evidence is rapidly mounting that white supremacists from across Southern California are trying to work hand and glove with "Save Our State" and its members in every protest and demonstration they organize; in fact, in some circumstances, it appears some white supremacists are active members of that group.

None of this should be terribly surprising. I've long held that immigration reform is an important issue that requires serious discussion, but I don't believe for a moment that scapegoating and harassing border crossers is going to provide any solutions. My experience has been that if you scratch beneath the surface of those who do, you quickly find that they are more likely to be concerned with Latino (or any nonwhite) immigration, not illegal immigration per se, though of course they pay lip service to the latter.
Trust me, I'm just getting started and at a later time, I'll make the connection between the Minutemen, and anti-immigration groups in Connecticut who are exploiting the situation in Danbury for their own political and financial gain.

New layout

Monday, February 05, 2007
Time: 4:58 PM

Well, it's finally done...well sort of.

The long awaited update to this site is finally a reality. Over the course of this week, there will be several more updates and tweeks to the site as I'm still making changes to the layout, text, and links.

Hang in there folks, it's almost over...then this site will be at FULL SPEED.

UPDATE: Okay everyone, if you see anything odd with the site, please email me. I've gone over this CSS code so many times that my eyes are going to pop out so I'm shutting things down for the night.

ALMOST READY...

UPDATE 2: In order to make sure you're viewing the latest version of this site, please refresh this page (press the F5 key).

Superbowl Sunday

Sunday, February 04, 2007
Time: 3:10 PM

I'm heading off to a Superbowl/Poker party. In case your wondering who I'm rooting for in the big game, this video might give you a clue...

Stop the raids forum


Time: 12:45 PM

Yesterday, Saint Augustine’s church in Hartford hosted a Stop the Raids forum featuring Simon Moshenberg and the Yale Law Students who are representing the "Danbury 11." (you know, the students representing the day laborers who were picked on in a ICE sweep; the same students Mayor Boughton ridiculed in a series of embarrassing television interviews as kids who "don't have much to do with their time"; the same Yale students that anti-immigrant wingnuts and xenophobes are criticizing because they are legally defending the individuals who were picked up in the sweep.

Whoa, whoa, lets hold back until the new site is up, then we'll take the gloves off...

The forum was held to bring attention to the number of undocumented immigrants who are being targeted by federal and state police as well as local officials.

Due to the my injury to my hand, I was unable to attend the event so unfortunately, I don't have my usual video report to show everyone. The good news is that this case is gaining a great deal of media attention and even FOX61 lead this newscast with this case (click here to watch the FOX61 report on the forum. I'm hoping to have the FOX61 video posted here later).

The Hartford Advocate was also on the scene and filed this report.
While immigrant raids occur statewide, Danbury has been a particular hotspot. Last September, 11 undocumented workers were arrested in a sting operation. They were picked up by law enforcement officials posing as building contractors, then processed by federal police and detained to Texas. Nine were released on bail, and the others are reportedly being deported to Ecuador.

The experience of the group, nicknamed the Danbury 11, is becoming more and more common across the country, immigrant rights supporters say.

“They have been carrying out a coordinated campaign to terrorize the immigrant communities from California to Connecticut,” said Jason McGahan of Connecticut Regional Coalition for Immigrant Rights.

On Feb. 3, at 7:30 p.m. Saint Augustine’s church in Hartford hosts Stop the Raids forum. The event, organized by the CT Regional Coalition for Immigrant Rights, features presentations from attorneys, immigrants and others.

“It’s not only about the Danbury 11. It’s about the raids that are happening nationally. We want to bring awareness about these things to everybody in the community, not just in Danbury, but everywhere,” said Marela Zacarias, an organizer of the event and a member of Latinos Against the War.

The organizers of the event intend for both immigrants and non immigrants to attend.

“The reality is that this happens all around us,” said St. Augustine’s pastor Father Thomas Mitchell. Mitchell said the parish has consistently supported immigrant rights, and agreed to host the forum without hesitation.

[...]

The September sting and Pereira’s arrest were conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration policing branch, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Founded in 2003, ICE has netted thousands of immigrants during home and workplace raids conducted in California, North Carolina and other states during January 2007. Immigrant rights supporters decry their tactics.

“When ICE arrests an immigrant, they essentially go by the same procedure that would be called ‘disappearing someone’ in Latin America,” McGahan said. “They grab them very suddenly, take them to a location that they do not disclose to the family. [They] have been known to transfer the detainees to locations far removed from the arrest location.”

[...]

Yale law student Simon Moshenberg is representing nine of the men in a lawsuit with the Department of Homeland Security. Working with other Yale students through the Jerome Frank Legal Services Organization, Moshenberg hopes to prove that the original arrest was conducted illegally.

“Among the many arguments we’re going to make is that the arrest itself was carried out in an illegal manner, and therefore, as is standard practice, if the arrest is illegal, all the evidence gained as a result of that arrest has to be thrown out and can’t be used in a legal proceeding,” Moshenberg said.

Moshenberg and his fellow Yale students are defending the men pro bono; many immigrants going through deportation hearings do so without legal council.
Finally, although I was unable to make the forum, I did interview Moshenberg and the other lawyers defending the individuals who were picked up by ICE. As a flashback, here's my video report from December.

Expect this case to heat up during this election year and you can read and watch all the details that the News-Times is unable to fit right here.

UPDATE: Supporters of the "Danbury 11" have set up a website for people who want more information or want to send donations. You can view it by clicking here.

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INDEPENDENT PARTY OF DANBNRY
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CITY OF DANBURY VIDEO ARCHIVE (Dec 2012-present)

The Mercurial (RIP)
Danbury News Times
Danbury Patch
Danbury Hamlet Hub
Danbury Daily Voice
Tribuna Newspaper
CT News Junkie
CT Capitol Report

10.03.18 (PDF):
"Approval of Danbury Prospect Charter School"

10.30.20 (HatCityBLOG VID): Charter School discussion during 2020 interview with Julie Kushner

2018 (RADIO): WLAD
"State Board of Ed signs off on Danbury charter school proposal"

08.20 (VID): CT-LEAD
"Stand up for Education Justice" Rally

08.20.20 (OP-ED): KUSHNER: "Charter schools are not ‘magic bullet’ to improving Danbury schools"

09.13.20 (OP-ED): CHAPMAN
Candidate for state Senate supports charter school for Danbury

01.15.21 (VID): CT-LEAD
Danbury Prospect Charter School press conference

03.19.21 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Danbury leaders do not want a charter school"

04.01.21 (OP-ED): CT-LEAD:
"Why did Sen. Kushner vote against us?"

05.06.21 (VID): Danbury rally to fully fund public schools

10.07.21 (VID): Danbury City-Wide PTO "Meet the Candidates" education forum

10.07.21 NEWSTIMES
Danbury candidates quarrel over charter school, education funding

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"New operator named for Danbury charter school: ‘I’m a huge advocate for parent choice’"

01.10.22 NEWSTIMES
"Some Danbury Democrats ‘open minded’ about charter school after new, CT operator named"

01.21.22 (OP-ED): CT MIRROR
"Lessons from Danbury: Ending the dual process for charter school approval"

02.09.22 NEWSTIMES
"Proposed Danbury charter school won’t open in 2022, governor leaves funding out of budget"

02.18.22 NEWSTIMES:
Danbury residents plead for charter school funds in 9-hour state budget hearing: ‘Just exhausted’

03.05.22 (LTE):
Time has come for Danbury charter school

03.12.22 (OP-ED): TAYLOR
"Why I am excited about the Danbury Charter School"

03.16.22 (LTE):
"Why a Danbury Charter School?"

04.02.22 CT EXAMINER:
"Crowding and a Lack of Options for Danbury Students, But No Agreement on Solutions"

04.04.22 (OP-ED): DCS
"Danbury Charter School plans debut"

04.07.22 (PODCAST): (CEA)
"SENATOR KUSHNER DISCUSSES POINTS OF OPTIMISM FOR DANBURY PUBLIC SCHOOLS"

04.18.22 (VID): CT-LEAD
Protest press conference

04.25.22 (RADIO): WSHU
Latino group call on Connecticut lawmakers to open a Danbury charter school

06.03.22 (OP-ED): KUSHNER:
"Career Academy ‘a great deal for Danbury"

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On September 26, 2007, ten plaintiffs filed suit in response to an arrest of aday laborers at a public park in Danbury, Connecticut. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on November 26, 2007.

The amended complaint states that plaintiffs sought to remedy the continued discriminatory and unauthorized enforcement of federal immigration laws against the Latino residents of the City of Danbury by Danbury's mayor and its police department.

Plaintiffs allege that the arrests violated their Fourth Amendment rights and the Connecticut Constitution because defendants conducted the arrests without valid warrants, in the absence of exigent circumstances, and without probable cause to believe that plaintiffs were engaged in unlawful activity. In addition, plaintiffs allege that defendants improperly stopped, detained, investigated, searched and arrested plaintiffs. Plaintiffs also allege that defendants violated their Fourteenth Amendment rights when they intentionally targeted plaintiffs, and arrested and detained them on the basis of their race, ethnicity and perceived national origin. Plaintiffs raise First Amendment, Due Process and tort claims.

Plaintiffs request declaratory relief, damages and attorneys fees.

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MAYOR BOUGHTON'S DEPOSITION

CLICK HERE TO READ/DOWNLOAD MIKE McLACHLAN (then MAYOR CHIEF OF STAFF) DEPOSITION

Danbury Area Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants v.
U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security
3:06-cv-01992-RNC ( D. Conn. )

(02.25.08) Court docket

(10.24.07) Memorandum in Opposition to Defendant's Emergency Motion for Protective Order

(09.26.07) Press Release

(12.14.06) Complaint


Barrera v. Boughton, No. 07-01436
(D. Conn. filed Sept. 26, 2007)

(02.25.08) Court Docket

Amended complaint

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Defendants' Motion to Dismiss State Law Claims

Plaintiffs' Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Order on Motion to Dismiss

Defendants' Answer to Amended Complaint

NEW HAVEN REGISTER: Immigrant's 2006 arrest was flawed Danbury mayor testifies

(10.05.07 (VIDEO) Boughton mislead the public about Danbury's involvement in raid

(09.18.07) Yale Law Students expose Danbury involvement in raid

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Interview with Yale Law Students at FOI presser

(12.14.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 FOI complaint media roundup

City Clerk Jean Natale standing next to skinhead sparks outrage

(10.03.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 rally

(09.29.06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 case deepens

Word of raid spread across the country

(09/29/06) VIDEO: Danbury 11 protest news conference

(09/29/06) Immigrant newspaper "El Canillita" gives best account of ICE day labor raid at Kennedy Park


trans_button Santos Family Story
VIDEO: Tereza Pereira's ordeal with ICE agents

VIDEO: Danbury Peace Coalition Immigration Forum (April 2006)
featuring Mayor Boughton and Immigration attorney Philip Berns

VIDEO: 2007 Stop the Raids immigration forum at WCSU

2007: Community protest anti-immigration forum

A tribute to Hispanic Center Director and immigrant activist Maria Cinta Lowe

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2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

Results:
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11.07.23: Initial returns


ESPOSITO FINANCE REPORTS:
Oct 10 2022
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Oct 10 2023

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(VID) DDTC nomination convention
(PDF) DDTC campaign slate flyer

(VID) DRTC nomination convention
(PDF) DRTC campaign slate flyer

FORUMS/DEBATES
(VID) 2021 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum

CAMPAIGN FINANCE
First quarter
Alves Apr 10th SEEC filing

Second quarter
Alves Jul 10th SEEC filing
Esposito Jul 10th SEEC filing

Third quarter
Alves Oct 12th SEEC report
Esposito Oct 12th SEEC report

CAMPAIGN MAILERS
Alves "Jan 6th" attack mailer 10.21.21
Esposito "you can't trust Alves" attack mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 10.20.21
Alves mailer 09.30.21
Esposito mailer 09.28.21
Alves mailer 09.27.21
Esposito mailer 09.27.21


PAST CAMPAIGN COVERAGE

2005 (BOUGHTON/ESPOSITO)
Danbury 2005 election results
Newstimes Dean Esposito profile (10.25.05)

2007 (BOUGHTON/ABRANTES)
Danbury 2007 election results
(VID) Helana Abrantes TV ad
(VID) BRT tax deferral presser
(VID) Helena Abrantes "Community Forum" interview

2009 (BOUGHTON/GONCALVES)
Danbury 2009 election results
(VID) 2009 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2009 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2009 DDTC nomination convention

2011 (BOUGHTON/TABORSAK)
Danbury 2011 election results
(VID) Saadi/Nero campaign kickoff

2013 (BOUGHTON/NO DTC ENDORSED CANDIDATE/MCALLISTER)
Danbury 2013 election results
(VID) 2013 DDTC nominaiton convention

2015 (BOUGHTON UNCHALLENGED)
Danbury 2015 election results

2017 (BOUGHTON/ALMEIDA)
Danbury 2017 election results
(VID) Al Almeida concession speech
(VID) 2017 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) Al Almeida nomination acceptance speech

2019 (BOUGHTON/SETARO)
Danbury 2019 election results
(VID) 2019 NewsTimes Editorial Board interview with Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro
(VID) 2019 Danbury City-Wide PTO educational forum
(VID) 2019 Danbury Chamber of Commerce mayoral debate
(VID) 2019 convention endorsement speeches from Mark Boughton and Chris Setaro