East Haven, CT – Dozens of members of an influential union that represents thousands of immigrant and Latino workers in Connecticut today joined a march in support of East Haven’s Latino community following federal allegations of racial profiling by the town’s police and subsequent insensitive remarks by its mayor.
“We are here to show our outrage over the serious allegations against the East Haven police and over Mayor Joseph Maturo’s damaging comments,” said Kurt Westby, Connecticut State Director for 32BJ. “Racial profiling, harassment and intimidation of Latinos – or any other group – has no place in our communities. We call on East Haven elected officials, especially Mayor Maturo, to take a stand against bigotry.”
32BJ has 4,500 members in Connecticut, many of them Latinos. The union works closely with the state’s leading immigrant and Latino advocacy groups to press for laws and policies that uphold immigrant rights at the state and federal level. The union worked, for example, to help pass the state’s version of the DREAM Act which ensures students pay in-state tuition rates at state public colleges regardless of the students’ immigration status.
On the national level, 32BJ has spoken out against the federal “Secure Communities” program that just this week took effect in Connecticut. The program makes local law enforcement officers into de facto immigration agents by calling on them to automatically share fingerprints with the federal Department of Homeland Security for checking against immigration databases.
Among those participating in the march Saturday was 32BJ member Francisco Solano of New Haven.
“East Haven’s elected officials and police need to understand that Latino residents in their town and across this state are hardworking men and women who pay taxes and contribute to our state’s economy,” Solano said. “Immigrants came to this country for economic opportunity. The United States is supposed to guarantee its people fairness and justice. That is why we are here at this march today, to demand fairness and justice for the Latino residents of Connecticut.”
With 120,000 members on the East Coast—including 4,500 in Connecticut—32BJ SEIU is the largest property services union in the country.