Immigration Lecture at Wabash College

Mayor of Danbury, Connecticut, Mark D. Boughton, stated at an immigration lecture given at Wabash College that Danbury County holds the largest concentration of both Shiite Muslims and Brazilians in northern America. He went on to illustrate how he believes Danbury has the most diverse county compared to any other in the nation. He stated that 49 different languages were spoken amongst the 85,000 residents living in Danbury County. He also claimed that there was a large majority of Ecuadorians beginning to immigrate into the county. Throughout the latter part of the lecture Mayor Boughton illustrated aspects of immigration in Danbury by providing an anecdote. He claimed that 95% of the Brazilian and Ecuadorian immigrants living in Danbury were illegal immigrants. He believed that a majority of them became illegal immigrants over a duration of time because their working visa’s had expired. When Mayor Boughton was asked how he felt about this particular situation pertaining to working visa’s he described his solution. His solution was to allow illegal immigrants already residing in the US to be able to “earn” their rights to become legalized citizens. It was his belief that they should have the decision to work 1,600 hours of community service over a period of five years to be able to earn a social security number and thus benefits. At the same time, they should be given a social security system and acknowledged in order to pay taxes and receive benefits.
Mayor Boughton also provided an anecdote of which illustrated how the various different cultures in Danbury erected some culture shocks. The mayor described how many Ecuadorians loved to play volleyball and would have large gatherings in order to play amongst one another. He described how they would have the volleyball net set up in the front yard where they would all play and even bet on the games being played. Alcohol and overcrowding of the streets was also evident from these gatherings. The mayor rationalized the situation by describing how in the Ecuadorian culture this would be perfectly fine, but that here in the US it was against the law. Danbury County sought the matter as a minor misunderstanding of the American culture and through these Ecuadorians eyes. The mayor took a stand by having police take proper action when such events occurred. He also stressed that the police shouldn’t use this as an opportunity to racially profile these people as illegal immigrants, and demanded that they treat them all as if they were American citizen’s and allow them to be treated equally.
In my opinion, I believe that both Mayor Broughton’s epiphany and action taken towards immigration in the US is the way more politicians should witness and take upon themselves. I believe that Mayor Broughton believes that whether the immigrants in Danbury are illegal or legal, that they should all have opportunities regardless. It is evident in his action towards illegal immigrants that he doesn’t view them as harmful, but as people trying to make their living through virtue of the good economy and jobs the US has to offer. His idea towards what the illegal immigrants should due in order to “earn” their rights to become legal resident’s strikes me as a very interesting idea. In some respects I believe that this is a good idea considering it both helps the society and helps the immigrant at the same time. On the other hand, I kind of see it as a small facet behind which slavery was founded. Immigrants doing community service is obviously not as harsh as slavery, but the idea seems to behold some of the descriptive qualities slavery with holds. I believe that the Mayor is doing a very effective job in handling illegal immigration in Danbury. He is obviously always going to have criticism from both parties when it comes to immigration, but I believe that he should stay true to his beliefs and not allow opinions to persuade him.