Arrests of Day Laborers Politicize Youth

Lawyers for a group of day laborers facing deportation proceedings in Connecticut argued in federal immigration court Monday that their arrests were illegal and they were targeted because they are Hispanic.

Eleven day laborers were arrested in a September immigration sweep in Danbury by authorities posing as construction contractors. Nine of the men were greeted when they arrived for their hearings by more than 70 boisterous supporters demonstrating in front of the Abraham A. Ribicoff Federal Building in Hartford.

Charlie Fuentes, a Trinity College junior and one of many students at the demonstration, said the September raid prompted him to become an activist. “I feel like I’m privileged [to be attending Trinity] and have an obligation to stand up for undocumented immigrants,” he said. Click here.

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