Immigrant group, officials foster cooperation
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

Marlborough - As community groups encourage immigrants to become more involved in the daily life in Marlborough, city officials said immigrants need to take advantage of the city's offices to get their needs met.

A community group called the Brazilian Civil Rights Coalition (BCRC) is trying to motivate immigrants to become more involved in political issues in the city, but activists said there is sometimes a perception among immigrants that they are not always welcome.

This comes after the City Council passed a measure in June directing the mayor to look into the feasibility of bringing an office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to Marlborough.

The BCRC has been in existence for a year but has recently stepped up its activities, including holding a private meeting this month with Mayor Nancy Stevens.

"We felt we need to organize better, to work with the officials of the city," spokesperson Ilton Lisboa said.

He added that the group aims to promote inclusion and positive change.

"We have to be sensitive not to form a group to be motivated against the offi- cials because that would be a disaster," Lisboa said.

He said the group aims to bring more immigrants, both documented and undocumented, into contact with the city government.

"We can see if we can motivate the immigrants to participate politically," Lisboa said.

The move comes as activists try to overcome reluctance on the part of immigrants to become more vocal and visible in the city. At a recent meeting of the Marlborough Community Development Corporation designed to increase contact between the city and immigrants, activists expressed frustration that some immigrants refuse to come forward and engage in the political process.

Stevens said she has tried to maintain a dialogue with immigrants as best she can, especially by relying on clergy as a conduit for information to flow. But there is a limit to what the city government can do to increase contact with immigrants.

"I can only put information out there," Stevens said. "You can't force anybody to take the initiative."

Lisboa suggested the city could take steps similar to the ones taken in Framingham, which instituted a taskforce to look into immigrant issues after several high-profile events sparked public interest. But Stevens said that the situation in Framingham is diff erent from that in Marlborough, and a taskforce is not a good idea.

"I don't believe it's necessary right now," Stevens said. "We don't have the issues that Framingham has. They have documentation fraud, human trafficking and all kinds of stuff that we don't have."

Instead, Stevens said she would continue to concentrate on keeping the lines of dialogue open, while also ensuring enforcement of ordinances relating to zoning, health and safety issues continues. Infractions of these ordinances, such as overcrowding and alterations to utility lines without a permit, are often problems associated with low-cost immigrant housing, but are in fact enforcement issues that aff ect the entire population, Stevens said.

"That is not targeted toward immigration," Stevens explained. "That's targeted toward everybody to make sure everybody is safe."

Stevens added the city had always welcomed immigrants and continues to do so.

Lisboa agreed the public perception among immigrants may be at odds with reality.

"There is a gap. We would like to close this gap," Lisboa said.

He said his group is working to make immigrants less apprehensive and more trusting of government.

"There are a lot of things and it is the perception but not the reality," Lisboa said.

He said he is hopeful about the group's chance of success.

"We feel things are going in the right direction," he said.