"Mayor Mark D. Boughton of Dansbury Connecticut"

Today’s guest speaker, Mayor Mark D. Boughton, is from Dansbury Connecticut. He shared with us some of his views on immigration. He was experienced in this area because a lot of immigrants live in his town and he is constantly dealing with the subject. The reason there are so many immigrants living in Dansbury is because there are a lot of opportunities for work. He also was fortunate enough to have an article in the New York Times about an issue involving volleyball which I found to be very interesting. Mayor Boughton said that they had a problem in the past with Ecuadorians holding volleyball tournaments in a residential neighborhood. They said that it was a fire hazard because fire trucks could not fit down the street because it was so crowded. He stated that he was not against them having these tournaments but they would have to do so earlier in the day, because most of these games were played at night. He said that some immigrants would complain and say that they could do what they wanted with their land. He told them that there were safety issues that were not being abided by and that they were federal legal issues. At some of these events that they had to go to people would be doing illegal things that may be accepted in their native countries but not hear in America, and those people would be arrested like anyone else. He stated that he has yet to see any hate crimes against the large number of immigrants and hopes to keep it that way. There was one experienced in Connecticut but it was rather far from the city of Dansbury. Another interesting issue was when police officers pull people over for traffic violations they are told to record the violator’s ethnicity no matter what race they are. They do this so individuals can’t say that they are profiling a certain race of people. Another problem that is often come across in Dansbury is people turning attics and garages into living space. These people then invite multiple families to come and live there and they all contribute to the rent. This does not work because these living environments are hazardous to their safety. Some argue that it is there land and that they can do whatever they would like with it, but that is not true in America. He tells immigrants, legal and illegal, to not be afraid to come to the police if they have issues. He stated that they will not deport them or anything along those lines unless they have had a record of criminal actions. In that case he has no choice. Some people believe that he is too harsh on the topic of immigration, while others believe he is too lenient. He has had multiple encounters of people writing information about the issue on immigration and how he is being too strict. He believes that illegal immigrants should be sent back and wait in line to come to America legally like everybody else. Although, he offered a solution that immigrants should have to work a certain number of community service hours to become a citizen and prove that they really want to live here. Over this time they would receive everything necessary to be a citizen. It was great to have Mayor Boughton at Wabash and we appreciate his knowledge and first hand encounters of immigration in Connecticut.