Immigrant rights group: Make Bridgeport a sanctuary

Maria Chumasero, front and center, and Maria Lima, back and center, both of Bridgeport, take part in a rally in front the Federal Courthouse, in Bridgeport. The rally was organized by local immigration advocacy groups in reaction to the Supreme Courts vote last week regarding Deferred Action for Parents of Americans. less Maria Chumasero, front and center, and Maria Lima, back and center, both of Bridgeport, take part in a rally in front the Federal Courthouse, in Bridgeport. The rally was organized by local immigration advocacy ... more Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Immigrant rights group: Make Bridgeport a sanctuary 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — A City Council member and a local immigration rights group want to have Bridgeport declared a sanctuary, where undocumented residents would be issued photo IDs to access city services and protected from the threat of deportation.

About 10 people marched Monday in a tight circle on the plaza in front of the federal courthouse in Bridgeport, carrying handmade signs saying “Mayor Ganim can do more for immigrants’’ and chanting “Up, up with immigration and down, down with deportation.’’

“It isn’t right to break up families, because these kids are our future,” said Norwalk resident Rocardo Ashby, 72, who traveled from Barbados to the U.S. in 1972. “These children miss their family, which leads them to get into trouble, but then they cannot get their papers because they have a record.”

The rally was organized by Make the Road Connecticut, the Bridgeport-based satellite of a national immigration advocacy group, to protest the U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that struck down President Barack Obama’s executive order blocking deportations of some undocumented immigrants.

Members were planning to go on to a much larger rally in front of U.S. District Court in Hartford later on Monday.

Connecticut currently has two sanctuary cities. New Haven became one of the nation’s first, in 2007, and Hartford followed a year later.

“It is something that New Haven did several years ago, and it is something that we can do keep families together,’’ said Councilman Jose R. Casco, D-136th, as he took part in a rally Monday afternoon outside the U.S. District Court on Lafayette Boulevard.

Sanctuary cities shelter undocumented residents by choosing not to obey Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainers, which are written requests that ask law enforcement to keep individuals for an extra 48 hours for federal assessment and possible deportation.

Casco, who heads the Latino Advocacy Foundation, said his group and others would meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers to ready a resolution for the full council and Mayor Joe Ganim to consider.

Actually, resident ID cards are on the way, said Danny Roach, Ganim’s operations director. The City Council could vote on a plan next month that would have the Bureau of Vital Statistics issue the photo identification cards for a fee of about $10, Roach said. The program would have a “minimal’’ start-up cost of about $10,000, he said.

Av Harris, the mayor’s spokesman, said designating Bridgeport a sanctuary from federal immigration law is a separate issue.

“In terms of not cooperating with federal law enforcement, we’re not ready to say that at this point,’’ the mayor’s spokesman said. “We have a very good working relationship with federal law enforcement on many fronts.”

“We want Bridgeport to issue residents photo ID cards, so that undocumented people can access some city services and programs, and go to the beach without fear of deportation,’’ organizer Luis G. Luna said at the rally. “We want the city to order its police department not to share information with ICE agents.’’

President Barack Obama’s executive order, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, which would have blocked deportations of some undocumented immigrants if they had a child born in the United States, was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 4-4 tie vote last week.

“But we vow to keep on fighting,’’Casco said.