Two years ago, New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz and I were in a meeting with about 40 residents and clergy.  We met in the community room of one of our neighborhood public libraries to talk about public safety issues.  The library was chosen as the place for the meeting because it is viewed by residents as ‘neutral’ territory. Clergy were present as a signal of trust – you see, we were meeting with undocumented city residents.

Undocumented residents were becoming targets for street robberies and home invasions. This dilemma brought us together as this presented an obvious public safety issue. Our Police Department was concerned about the failure of victims of crime and witnesses to come forward and talk to our community police officers.  These communities were isolated from financial services – thus they carried large sums of cash, making them attractive targets for criminal predators. So, we worked to engage them and bridge communication gaps that were only allowing criminals to get away with their actions.

Now, I’m sure it appears that there is nothing new about engaging the community regarding trust and cooperation with the police.  What is new is that New Haven, like hundreds of other cities and towns around the nation, has become home to a significant undocumented resident population.  In our case, we estimate these residents comprise 10% of our total population – a number that is growing.  The increasing reality is that these residents are having children who are US citizens, that they make up a critical component of our work force and that they share the basic values of America - a willingness to work hard and a deep aspiration to see that their children have a better chance to succeed than they did.

And, there is one more reality.  These residents bear the mark of being undocumented because of the spectacular failure of the federal government to come up with a sensible border and immigration policy for the nation.  This is a failure that none of us can reasonably expect Washington to do something about any time soon. So, we decided to take action for New Haven, because we couldn’t afford to wait for Washington to achieve positive change on this issue.

And so, we listened and talked that night with these residents.  And we came up with a strategy to break down walls of mistrust so that we could work together with our residents to ensure safe, civil neighborhoods where people know one another and work together.  And we just can’t do that unless we know each others’ names. 

On July 24th of this year, the City inaugurated the Office of New Haven Residents with a principal function being the issuance of the ‘Elm City Resident Card’.  The Card is issued upon presentation of documents that address two basic thresholds – who you are and that you live in New Haven.  The Card entitles residents to basic City services such as recreation, library, waste removal, and elderly transportation.  It is also a debit card that can be used at many businesses and to pay for City services such as parking meters throughout our downtown.  The Card will also be used to access banking services such as financial literacy courses and to open bank accounts. The expansion of benefits provided by this card make it a great resource not only for the undocumented population but for all of our residents.

However, the Card’s most important function is to recognize all of the people who live in New Haven and to point out that while City residents have rights to access City services, they also have a corresponding obligation to the rest of the community:  the obligation to report crime, to respect each other’s person and property and to care for themselves and their family.  In order to ensure compliance with these obligations, we need to interact with each other personally and with our own names.

Our American values are built upon a careful balance of individual rights and initiative weighed against shared community action and institutions.  In New Haven, we have chosen to accomplish that goal by engaging all of our residents and offering a resident card irrespective of immigration status.

Not all agree with this direction.  And, some ask “What part of ‘illegal’ doesn’t the City understand?”  But, they miss the point and they miss our American history.  The point is that by not acting, the Federal government is winking its eye and tacitly acknowledging and legitimizing the presence of some 13 million undocumented residents. Therefore, we must, for reasons of public safety and for reasons of building a strong community; implement our own solutions. This might not be the right answer for every city in this country but it’s the right program for New Haven.

And as to our American history: we see in too many Americans a fear of immigrants who may not fit their vision of what a real American looks like.  Such ignorances have all too often punctuated our history as a nation.   But our history has always proven that an expanded definition of citizenship – regardless of race, religion, wealth, gender, disability or ethnicity— has built this nation into a blessed place of opportunity and possibility for everyone.

And in New Haven we prefer to define each other not by an ignorance, or a prejudice, or a fear – but by each other’s name.