A blunt discussion on the Brewster crash
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- June
- 18
Today’s panel discussion about the Brewster crash, convened by the Journal News editorial board, turned out to be a remarkable exchange. There was debate about whether the tragedy — a drunk-driving incident that killed a m
other and child — had anything to do with the illegal immigration issue. The man indicted in the crash was identified as undocumented and unlicensed, a horse-farm laborer originally from Guatemala.
Brewster Mayor James Schoenig said he knew immediately what reaction he would receive. He described receiving a series of phone calls “saying that they want to line all the immigrants up on Main Street and shoot them, (and ranging) to, let’s find a local tree and get some rope and hang them.”
Resident Patti Hupp described the level of anger and agony that she and others are feeling over the deaths of Lori and Kayla Donahue, and why that spills over into anger over day labor and illegal immigration. “We’re still in a grieving process,” she said. Hupp, who is leading twice-daily marches on Main Street in support of the Donahue family, said women feel unsafe in Brewster because of the numbers of men lining Main Street and that they feel angry at the thought that the laborers do not pay taxes. “Money is a powerful thing, and it makes people angry and it’s not fair,” she said.
I’ll write in more detail about the ensuing discussion about those assertions, about the scapegoating of immigrants and Hispanics, about popular attitudes toward drinking and drunkenness, and about local measures aiming to combat drunk 
driving. Reporter Marcela Rojas is writing a story for tomorrow’s Journal News. To me, as someone who has followed the immigration and day labor issues in Brewster over the last decade or so, this sort of direct, face-to-face discussion has been rare in Brewster.
The other speakers were Ana Lopez, a Brewster resident and a case worker at the Westchester Hispanic Coalition; Betsy Palmieri of the Hudson Valley Community Coalition; Mel Berger of the Mount Kisco Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Council, and Carole Sears of the Westchester chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
To watch the video, click here and hit the On-Demand button at the bottom of the player. The
n select “Editorial Board talks with members of Brewster Community” which (as of this afternoon) is at the top of the list.
(Photos: Rory Glaeseman / The Journal News )
Top photo: Mayor Schoenig and Patti Hupp
Second photo: Betsy Palmieri and Carole Sears
Third photo: Ana Lopez
Last photo: Mel Berger
This entry was posted
on Thursday, June 18th, 2009 at 3:03 pm by Leah Rae.
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This shouldn’t even be an issue. Enforce the laws on the books already and send the scum home.
Why can’t the police do an undercover sting? Dress up as a day laborer & arrest the guys/gals that pick them up. Or set up Craiglist ads, chat rooms for hiring horsemen. Like we do for sex-offenders. I’m not a lawyer, but that seems fair.
I have another super duper idea! Maybe we can give free parking spaces to Betsy, Mel, Ana, & Carole so they can come to Brewster & help us with their skills. You know, “get their noses in there” or “get their hands dirty” so to speak, & talk to these fine gents. Bring breakfast in the morning, lunch, & dinner. I’m sure Ana, Betsy, Mel & Carole have an extra rooms in their houses. Why not take someone in? Love & Peace to All!
More politically correct BS! The average citizen is sick and tired of paying for it all, so the wealthy can have their cheap labor. No more discussions until laws are enforced – discussions like this are useless.
i heard part of the discussion , you people are to soft hearted , toward these people.everyone wants a better life ,
thats the american dream ,but the law is the law ,polticains should be protecting are borders and for the people who work hard and pay your salaries.if your here ILLEGAL , the proper proceedings should be aplyed. but it will never happen now because it got way out of control and costs to much .and will be even more costly when the united states has no more resources left for it’s own people,who will pick up the the tab then.this issue been going on for 25 yrs now , not just since this accident,they seem to have more rights the the average citizen , and the best part is they laugh right in our face ,saving there money and sending it home so they live like kings when they get back .so dont let them fool you .
Yes, Citizens do commit crimes including driving drunk but resources that could be utilized fighting and preventing these crimes are diverted in an attempt to protect U.S. Citizens from the never ending crimes of the ILLEGALS and their Anchors or welfare for the ILLEGALS. A Mother and Daughter, Two U.S. Citizens, are dead because an ILLEGAL was in the United States driving drunk; if he were not in the U.S. ILLEGALLY the two Citizens would be alive or at the very least not murdered by the ILLEGAL in this drunk-driving incident.
Was it Betsy that said “The demographics are changing.”? Well that just set me off. She might as well have said “Illegal Aliens have chosen to settle in YOUR town and change the culture to suit THEM, get over it.” All the same old PC BS too, ‘we don’t have the resources…it’s the feds responsibilty…good people trying to make a better life for their families…get to know them and you will love em. Makes me sick!
How about the religious orgs. do it the old fashioned way and sponsor Immigrant families at their expense and not FORCE ‘we’ the taxpayers to contibute to this charity. I, for one, do not wish to subsidize those coming here Illegally and dragging down the American standards of living.
I am always intensely amused at the stupidity of the popular reaction to news items like this Brewster crash. “We are angry at the illegal immigrants because they don’t pay taxes.” I am a member of the racial and income elite: a white middle aged male in corporate management. Allow me to volunteer by eager solidarity with the immigrant population on the matter of taxes. I don’t want to pay taxes either, and I avoid them at every opportunity. Especially New York State taxes. My taxes, the ones I can’t avoid, are not paying for immmigrant services. By an enormous margin, they are paying for inflated New York State pension and benefits plans for civil service and other union workers around the state. As for the economic impact of immigrant day labor, it is negligible in comparison to the impact you idiots have when you walk into Walmart and make a purchase. Are you getting a lot of satisfaction financing China’s rise to world power? You’re not sure because your too busy flogging the local Guatemalans, who last I looked didn’t appear to be on the fast track to world power. My experience with the immigrants in Brewster is that they are passive and more peaceful by far than the average knucklehead, like your own high school kids. Real estate agents in Brewster know that an immigrant rental tenant will never complain about anything in his rental unit because they want to avoid trouble at all costs. Leaky pipes? They live with it. Did the immigrants cause the real estate crash? No. Did the immigrants cause the stock market crash? No. But you’re in a red lather about them. You want blood. Lock ‘em up. Lynch ‘em. Send ‘em home. This is why you have problems. You can’t see beyond the end of your pimpled noses. You’re stupid.