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New Haven passes out I-D cards to illegals

An immigration reform activist organization says the ACLU doesn't seem to have any problem with the city of New Haven, Connecticut, aiding people who want to deliberately flout U.S. immigration laws.

Recently the city of New Haven began issuing a special municipal ID card that allows illegal aliens to open bank accounts and use other services that are normally not available without a driver's license or other valid document like a Resident Alien Card. Supporters of the ID program say it will improve safety for illegal immigrants. But Ira Mehlman of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) believes it will encourage more law breaking.

"Nobody is asking New Haven or any other city to take steps to enforce immigration laws," says Mehlman, "but at the very least they shouldn't do things that encourage more people to come to the country illegally."

Mehlman says it is "interesting" that the American Civil Liberties Union does not seem to have a problem with a local municipality aiding those who want to usurp federal law, like it did with Hazleton, Pennsylvania, trying to pass ordinances aimed at helping enforce immigration laws.

"All of a sudden you have the ACLU and all these other groups coming in and filing lawsuits saying no, no, no, you can't do that, you're interfering in federal prerogative here," the FAIR spokesman says; "but when you have local governments like the city of New Haven, Connecticut, stepping in and saying we're going to make it easier for illegal aliens, all of a sudden the ACLU is nowhere to be found."

Last week a federal judge struck down Hazleton's ordinances on illegal immigration and issued a permanent injunction preventing their enforcement. Hazleton's mayor has indicated the community plans to appeal that ruling.