Post by Freehold Resident on Aug 4, 2006 8:37:26 GMT -5
Citizens want
answers on
immigration
PEOPLE holds first meeting to
discuss Freehold Boro situation
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
Maintaining a peaceful co-existence among residents in a community is pretty much a balancing act.
A little of this and a little of that, the key word here being "little."
Freehold Borough Mayor Michael Wilson is concerned that a new citizens group, Pressing Our Elected Officials to Protect Our Living Environment (PEOPLE), may inadvertently upset the balance of the borough.
PEOPLE is headed by former Borough Councilman Marc LeVine. He said it will focus attention on holding elected officials and agencies in the local, state and federal governments accountable for what the group’s members say are growing problems associated with day laborers and illegal immigration.
An op-ed piece written by LeVine and published in the News Transcript in September prompted residents to draft the former councilman as leader of the group.
LeVine wrote, "Our problems are similar to what other cities, towns and states across America are experiencing as a result of a system which quietly supports the notion of filling jobs with cheap labor, and blatantly disregards our immigration laws and the hardships forced on taxpaying citizens at home — where they wish to live safely and in peace. We are not bigots and welcome all people from all cultures to our already diverse town."
Wilson expressed his concerns about PEOPLE after the group held its first meeting on Oct. 16 at the America Legion hall, West Main Street. Wilson said he is concerned about the group’s activities because it has been modeled to follow a group called Sachem Quality of Life in Farmingville, Long Island, N.Y. The Sachem group, founded in 1998, has been connected to documented reports of violence against illegal Mexican immigrants.
Although Wilson could not attend the PEOPLE meeting, he was aware of it and was kept up to date on what transpired at it.
The American Legion room, filled to capacity on Oct. 16, was filled with residents who listened attentively as LeVine read from a prepared statement. He began by giving a brief history of migrant workers in Monmouth County going back to the early 1960s.
"They were hardly even noticed," LeVine said.
He worked his way up to the present day "mini-estates" filled with "yuppies" who have enormous lawns to care for.
"This was a boom for the landscapers," he said. "There were not enough workers to serve the needs of the wealthy communities and landscapers experienced a shortage of workers. No one knows how it happened, but local businesses were the first to employ these [immigrant] workers."
By the early 1990s, he said, the increase in the number of immigrants coming to Freehold Borough was beginning to cause problems in town and things were "spiraling out of control."
Receiving no response from numerous letters and phone calls to the federal government caused problems to escalate, according to LeVine.
"The problems worsened and we were no longer dealing with single men, but women and children as well," he said.
He talked about the impact of the new residents on the town, schools and economy.
Illegal aliens "are not the enemy," LeVine said. "Greed is the enemy. The system stinks."
LeVine praised Wilson and members of the Borough Council for implementing a quality of life enforcement team to crack down on residential overcrowding and other quality of life issues affecting residents. He said the federal government should begin now to ensure safe passage home to illegal aliens who are working in the United States.
"We will have zero tolerance come next spring," he said. "We need to create new laws that will have some teeth in them. Small voices squeal, strong voices boom.
"We will always have a Latino population in Freehold Borough," LeVine said. "They are a part of the diverse culture of our community. Other people have looked down on us because of our diversity and we have had to defend it in the past. Those who remain will be our neighbors and we must never forget that.
"We will be civil during this meeting," LeVine told the audience. "If things get out of control we will close down the meeting."
Residents were then given a chance to speak.
One woman kindly asked people to refer to the illegal immigrants as "individuals" because she did not like referring to them as "illegals" as many at the meeting had done.
Taking a different point of view, another resident said, "We should pack them all up on a bus and haul them up to Newark to immigration. Then every other town should do the same."
Residents responded by raised voices.
LeVine quickly restored order to the group and reiterated that the meeting would be orderly or it would be adjourned.
A woman who identified herself as a resident of the Kingsley Square development asked LeVine, "Whatever happened to good old-fashioned deportation? Round up all the illegals and just deport them. And give our police more power to enforce immigration laws. If you’re in this country illegally, you don’t have any rights at all. We’re the people who have rights here.
"I object to reading about being in my warm bed at night while others sleep outdoors," she said, referring to an article published in the News Transcript about immigrants who sometimes must make their home in the woods. "You’re d**n right I sleep well at night, because I earned that right."
Another resident expressed concern over the borough’s plan to close the area on Throckmorton Street where day laborers are picked up by employers. The resident said the so-called muster zone was put into place to keep the area where immigrants wait for work out of the borough’s neighborhoods.
"It didn’t turn out as anticipated," LeVine said. "It was not meant to be a regional drop-off point for residents from other towns. You’re d**ned if you do and dammed if you don’t. Everyone realizes that other problems may start up again. There are no speedy solutions."
LeVine was soon called upon to enforce the promise he made about closing down the meeting after an invited guest speaker, Joseph Sadowski, the leader of the Sachem Quality of Life group appeared.
After being introduced by LeVine, Sadowski shocked both LeVine and many of the members of the PEOPLE group, some of whom left the hall as he spoke.
Sadowski told residents that having a pick-up zone for day laborers is illegal. He compared operating the muster zone to "opening all the jail cells and letting out all the criminals in every town."
Resident Joy Goetz yelled to Sadowski as she left the room, "You do not belong in Freehold Borough."
LeVine ended the meeting several minutes after Sadowski’s comments. The mumble of residents could be heard as people filed out. LeVine said later that Sadowski will not be invited back.
In a later conversation with Cecilia Reynolds, publisher of the local Spanish language newspaper Nosotros and an advocate for the Hispanic community, Reynolds said she attended the meeting to "get a different perspective from people."
"I was surprised to see a room full of hate," she said. "I don’t understand how people cannot know that undocumented immigrants do have rights here. I was also hurt to hear the things that people were saying, although some things are true. I think I came more to hear any ideas that could help. One can always criticize, but you really must walk in their shoes for awhile."
Freehold Borough police Sgt. Andrew DeMuth, who attended the PEOPLE meeting, said he advised the group to operate with care. DeMuth has taken a special interest in the Hispanic community for a number of years and has attended many ethnic events. He writes a monthly column for Nosotros.
DeMuth said there is still a great misconception about what police can and cannot do.
"There were some valid issues brought up at he meeting," he said. "The town is already addressing most of them, but some are beyond the town’s control. Some of what I heard in that meeting was frightening, especially the words the gentleman from Long Island spoke.
"It’s important to remember that certain issues are the enemy, not the Mexican immigrants themselves. Members of the group PEOPLE need to be careful as to who they attract. There will be zero tolerance for incidents like those that took place in Long Island," the sergeant said.
In a later interview with Wilson, the mayor said he understood the concerns of the community, but said he was very concerned that PEOPLE not have any incidents of violence.
"People in the group may be well-intentioned but we must let them know that we will not tolerate what happened in Farmingville here in Freehold Borough. We’re all in this together and we need to work together on solutions, but peacefully," Wilson said.
He expressed concern as to how the group would deal with those who might instigate or condone violence.
"It’s happened before in that group (Sachem Quality of Life) that PEOPLE has modeled itself after. And this we do not need," the mayor said.
answers on
immigration
PEOPLE holds first meeting to
discuss Freehold Boro situation
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
Maintaining a peaceful co-existence among residents in a community is pretty much a balancing act.
A little of this and a little of that, the key word here being "little."
Freehold Borough Mayor Michael Wilson is concerned that a new citizens group, Pressing Our Elected Officials to Protect Our Living Environment (PEOPLE), may inadvertently upset the balance of the borough.
PEOPLE is headed by former Borough Councilman Marc LeVine. He said it will focus attention on holding elected officials and agencies in the local, state and federal governments accountable for what the group’s members say are growing problems associated with day laborers and illegal immigration.
An op-ed piece written by LeVine and published in the News Transcript in September prompted residents to draft the former councilman as leader of the group.
LeVine wrote, "Our problems are similar to what other cities, towns and states across America are experiencing as a result of a system which quietly supports the notion of filling jobs with cheap labor, and blatantly disregards our immigration laws and the hardships forced on taxpaying citizens at home — where they wish to live safely and in peace. We are not bigots and welcome all people from all cultures to our already diverse town."
Wilson expressed his concerns about PEOPLE after the group held its first meeting on Oct. 16 at the America Legion hall, West Main Street. Wilson said he is concerned about the group’s activities because it has been modeled to follow a group called Sachem Quality of Life in Farmingville, Long Island, N.Y. The Sachem group, founded in 1998, has been connected to documented reports of violence against illegal Mexican immigrants.
Although Wilson could not attend the PEOPLE meeting, he was aware of it and was kept up to date on what transpired at it.
The American Legion room, filled to capacity on Oct. 16, was filled with residents who listened attentively as LeVine read from a prepared statement. He began by giving a brief history of migrant workers in Monmouth County going back to the early 1960s.
"They were hardly even noticed," LeVine said.
He worked his way up to the present day "mini-estates" filled with "yuppies" who have enormous lawns to care for.
"This was a boom for the landscapers," he said. "There were not enough workers to serve the needs of the wealthy communities and landscapers experienced a shortage of workers. No one knows how it happened, but local businesses were the first to employ these [immigrant] workers."
By the early 1990s, he said, the increase in the number of immigrants coming to Freehold Borough was beginning to cause problems in town and things were "spiraling out of control."
Receiving no response from numerous letters and phone calls to the federal government caused problems to escalate, according to LeVine.
"The problems worsened and we were no longer dealing with single men, but women and children as well," he said.
He talked about the impact of the new residents on the town, schools and economy.
Illegal aliens "are not the enemy," LeVine said. "Greed is the enemy. The system stinks."
LeVine praised Wilson and members of the Borough Council for implementing a quality of life enforcement team to crack down on residential overcrowding and other quality of life issues affecting residents. He said the federal government should begin now to ensure safe passage home to illegal aliens who are working in the United States.
"We will have zero tolerance come next spring," he said. "We need to create new laws that will have some teeth in them. Small voices squeal, strong voices boom.
"We will always have a Latino population in Freehold Borough," LeVine said. "They are a part of the diverse culture of our community. Other people have looked down on us because of our diversity and we have had to defend it in the past. Those who remain will be our neighbors and we must never forget that.
"We will be civil during this meeting," LeVine told the audience. "If things get out of control we will close down the meeting."
Residents were then given a chance to speak.
One woman kindly asked people to refer to the illegal immigrants as "individuals" because she did not like referring to them as "illegals" as many at the meeting had done.
Taking a different point of view, another resident said, "We should pack them all up on a bus and haul them up to Newark to immigration. Then every other town should do the same."
Residents responded by raised voices.
LeVine quickly restored order to the group and reiterated that the meeting would be orderly or it would be adjourned.
A woman who identified herself as a resident of the Kingsley Square development asked LeVine, "Whatever happened to good old-fashioned deportation? Round up all the illegals and just deport them. And give our police more power to enforce immigration laws. If you’re in this country illegally, you don’t have any rights at all. We’re the people who have rights here.
"I object to reading about being in my warm bed at night while others sleep outdoors," she said, referring to an article published in the News Transcript about immigrants who sometimes must make their home in the woods. "You’re d**n right I sleep well at night, because I earned that right."
Another resident expressed concern over the borough’s plan to close the area on Throckmorton Street where day laborers are picked up by employers. The resident said the so-called muster zone was put into place to keep the area where immigrants wait for work out of the borough’s neighborhoods.
"It didn’t turn out as anticipated," LeVine said. "It was not meant to be a regional drop-off point for residents from other towns. You’re d**ned if you do and dammed if you don’t. Everyone realizes that other problems may start up again. There are no speedy solutions."
LeVine was soon called upon to enforce the promise he made about closing down the meeting after an invited guest speaker, Joseph Sadowski, the leader of the Sachem Quality of Life group appeared.
After being introduced by LeVine, Sadowski shocked both LeVine and many of the members of the PEOPLE group, some of whom left the hall as he spoke.
Sadowski told residents that having a pick-up zone for day laborers is illegal. He compared operating the muster zone to "opening all the jail cells and letting out all the criminals in every town."
Resident Joy Goetz yelled to Sadowski as she left the room, "You do not belong in Freehold Borough."
LeVine ended the meeting several minutes after Sadowski’s comments. The mumble of residents could be heard as people filed out. LeVine said later that Sadowski will not be invited back.
In a later conversation with Cecilia Reynolds, publisher of the local Spanish language newspaper Nosotros and an advocate for the Hispanic community, Reynolds said she attended the meeting to "get a different perspective from people."
"I was surprised to see a room full of hate," she said. "I don’t understand how people cannot know that undocumented immigrants do have rights here. I was also hurt to hear the things that people were saying, although some things are true. I think I came more to hear any ideas that could help. One can always criticize, but you really must walk in their shoes for awhile."
Freehold Borough police Sgt. Andrew DeMuth, who attended the PEOPLE meeting, said he advised the group to operate with care. DeMuth has taken a special interest in the Hispanic community for a number of years and has attended many ethnic events. He writes a monthly column for Nosotros.
DeMuth said there is still a great misconception about what police can and cannot do.
"There were some valid issues brought up at he meeting," he said. "The town is already addressing most of them, but some are beyond the town’s control. Some of what I heard in that meeting was frightening, especially the words the gentleman from Long Island spoke.
"It’s important to remember that certain issues are the enemy, not the Mexican immigrants themselves. Members of the group PEOPLE need to be careful as to who they attract. There will be zero tolerance for incidents like those that took place in Long Island," the sergeant said.
In a later interview with Wilson, the mayor said he understood the concerns of the community, but said he was very concerned that PEOPLE not have any incidents of violence.
"People in the group may be well-intentioned but we must let them know that we will not tolerate what happened in Farmingville here in Freehold Borough. We’re all in this together and we need to work together on solutions, but peacefully," Wilson said.
He expressed concern as to how the group would deal with those who might instigate or condone violence.
"It’s happened before in that group (Sachem Quality of Life) that PEOPLE has modeled itself after. And this we do not need," the mayor said.