'Illegal problem is the worst'

Anti-illegal immigrant group plans 'Stop the Invasion' protest in Danbury
By Eugene Driscoll

THE NEWS-TIMES
DANBURY — A controversial anti-illegal immigrant group is planning a "Stop the Invasion" demonstration Saturday at Kennedy Park.

Latino day laborers gather each morning around Kennedy Park, between Kennedy Avenue and Elm Street, hoping to be hired by contractors.

"Hiring illegals at Kennedy Park is a criminal activity. It is against the law," said Paul Streitz, a founding member of Connecticut Citizens for Immigration Control.

Streitz' group wants the United States to close its borders, enforce existing immigration laws — and to send undocumented immigrants back to their homelands. Streitz lives in Darien but held the group's inaugural meeting last April in Danbury.

"Danbury is where the illegal problem is the worst," Streitz said.

The Kennedy Park protest is one of several planned for Saturday across the country by groups that want to reform the nation's immigration laws.

Information about the protests has been transferred via immigration reform message boards on the Internet.

Weather shouldn't be a problem. Forecasts call for sunny skies with a high of 36 degrees. However, just how many people will show up in Danbury is anybody's guess.

The leader of the local immigration reform group doesn't want any part of Saturday's demonstration.

Elise Marciano is a founding member of U.S. Citizens for Immigration Law Enforcement, a Danbury group that meets regularly. The group once was associated with Streitz' group, but changed its name to distance itself from Streitz.

Marciano said Streitz craves media attention more than implementing change.

Marciano said a few individuals from her group may go to Kennedy Park on Saturday, but her group isn't supporting the demonstration.

"I don't know why he's doing it now in Danbury. There is nobody at Kennedy Park this time of year. On Saturday morning, nobody is going to be there," she said.

Marciano said her group is writing letters to state and national elected officials to pressure them to do something about illegal immigration. A low-key approach is more effective, Marciano said.

Streitz said he and Marciano have different approaches to achieve the same goal.

Maria-Cinta Lowe, executive director of the Hispanic Center of Greater Danbury, said members of Streitz' group are troublemakers who should be ignored.

"They are racist. They are bigots. They are ignorant. We do not need people like them in Danbury, and we do not need them in Connecticut," Lowe said.

Mayor Mark Boughton, meanwhile, said Danbury police would be advised of Saturday's protest.

He said a local protest won't do much other than upset people.

"We certainly do not condone this activity. The only way illegal immigration is going to be addressed is through a national policy change," Boughton said. "Congress people are not going to change the policy because a few people are standing on the corner of Kennedy Park with signs."

While Boughton garnered national media attention for his complaints to the federal government about illegal immigration — including forming a national group of municipal leaders — Streitz said the mayor hasn't done enough.

"People in Danbury are upset because they are living with the problem," Streitz said. "That's why we focus on Danbury. It's a blue-collar town where people buy or rent, and all of the sudden the house next door has 25 illegals living in it."