This is a correction to an earlier blog post, which I thought would correct some allegedly mistaken information I’d put into a June 14 story about a federal program called “Secure Communities” that has stirred up lots of controversy among undocumented immigrants and civil rights activists.
Unfortunately, the original story was right and I have Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton to thank for this screwy situation where I’m correcting an incorrect correction.
In that Secure Communities story, I mentioned a Danbury police sting operation that picked up 11 immigrants, saying “police arrested the 11 men and turned them over to federal immigration agents.” The case resulted in a 2007 civil rights lawsuit against the city and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on behalf of those immigrant workers.
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Boughton, anti-illegal immigrant crusader and last year’s unsuccessful Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, emailed me saying I was mistaken, arguing that two different immigration courts had ruled the men “were not arrested by Danbury Police Department, they were arrested by [U.S.] Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
The problem with his statement is that, according to sworn depositions by Danbury cops, ICE agents, booking records and news reports, Danbury police did in fact arrest those 11 guys and then turned them over to ICE, which also arrested them on federal charges.
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Danbury cops testified in their depositions that the 11 men were taken into custody - by Danbury police - for alleged traffic violations.
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But the 11 men were apparently never booked for any traffic violations. They were charged by Danbury police with illegal entry into the United States, and later turned over to ICE agents.
According to Wishnie, booking records show the men weren’t turned over to federal officials until two hours after they were booked by Danbury cops.
In his deposition, ICE Agent James Brown also contradicted Boughton’s insistent claims that the alleged non-sting operation was a federal operation that Danbury police simply helped out with.
“He (Boughton) said the city did not order the operation, that ICE was already on the way. That is not correct, not for this activity,” Brown said.
Danbury Police Lt. James Fisher testified under oath that the arrest of those immigrants was initiated by Danbury cops, and ICE agreed to help only after the third or fourth request from the city. He said the operation came about as a result of pressure from Boughton for police to take action against the immigrant workers.
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"
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.
Amanda Bloom, 10:18 PM
