But when she was approached by local housing activists about a community encampment on the Green last week, she finally knew someone had her back. 

“One of the most beautiful things and the moment that I knew that these people had my best interest in mind was when I was walking with some of the folks who were headed to the Green, and I said, ‘Are we taking the Union Station shuttle?’ They said, ‘No, we’re driving together,’” Noel said.

Support has been at the forefront of the encampment erected by the Unhoused Activist Community Team, or U-ACT, on Wednesday night. Members of New Haven’s unhoused community slept in 25 tents on the Green that night — before New Haven police told them to take the tents down Thursday morning. 

With community members now sleeping on the ground, the encampment plans to remain throughout the winter or until the city offers a different plot of land for the homeless population to occupy. 

The encampment stands both in protest of previous police sweeps of unhoused encampments and to serve homeless New Haveners who find their needs unmet by the shelter system, organizers and participants told the News. “

The theme of this whole campaign is ‘Where then shall we go?’” Mark Colville, the lead organizer of U-ACT, said. “I know it’s a sort of a rhetorical and biblical question, but we’re asking it in a very practical way because people are being evicted every night, and, in the case of the train station, people are literally being placed on the sidewalk.”

After setting up the tents Wednesday, U-ACT organizers gathered people sleeping at Union Station or around downtown and invited them to the encampment on the Green. 

All 25 tents were full within 45 minutes, according to Colville.  On Thursday morning, New Haven police officers asked the group to remove their tents, citing a city ordinance that bars tents from the Green. Although taking down the tents was a setback, Colville said, the group decided to comply with the order to maintain a claim over the space, instead of risking forceful removal. The encampment has remained on the Green since, relying on tarps, blankets and sleeping bags. 

Alexis Terry, a student at Gateway Community College and a two-year member of U-ACT, explained that the encampment is focusing on making decisions and communicating to the city as a collective, which is why the decision to take down the tents was made after a group discussion.  Terry said that the encampment serves to loop unhoused residents who are under the radar into a community and a network of services, as well as to share their stories and learn from one another. 

On Thursday night, guitar melodies wafted through the encampment as organizers handed out long socks, hand warmers and toilet paper to those who approached the supplies table. Organizers — many of whom have been homeless themselves — offer two meals a day and all-night security to encampment participants.

Michael Cutler, who has experienced homelessness several times, said that he usually errs away from sleeping on the Green, citing dangerous conditions. But he said due to the “wonderful people” at the encampment, he felt secure enough to sleep on the Green Thursday night.

Officials from New Haven’s Office of Housing and Homelessness Services approached the encampment Thursday morning along with the police, offering people beds at one of New Haven’s homeless shelters. Mayor Justin Elicker told the News that 10 people accepted the city’s offer. 

However, some individuals participating in the encampment do not view shelters as an adequate solution to homelessness. Shelters often separate couples or families and tend to offer beds on a temporary basis. Terry also criticized the conditions of some of the shelters and explained that some people are not well-suited to living in shelters due to various mental health statuses. U-ACT organizers called on the city to move away from the shelter system as a catch-all and towards a public plot of land for New Haven’s unhoused community. 

Mary Fitzgerald, who has been homeless since April 2023, said she hopes to use her master’s in psychology, her professional background in social services and her experience being unhoused to positively impact the community in the future. She plans on writing a book about her experiences or starting a nonprofit.

According to Fitzgerald, the best way to support the unhoused community would be to increase dialogue between the homeless population and city politicians. “A lot of us know what we have to do,” Fitzgerald said. “We have to contact 211, we have to get an assessment, we need to work with the case [manager], we need to find employment, get sober, maybe go to therapy, things like that, but having the opportunity to do that and the resources available are another thing.” “Most people don’t want to be dependent,” Fitzgerald added. 

Colville explained that for homeless individuals to access city services, they have to approach them from a position of helplessness, which can feel dehumanizing, and that these services strip people of their independence, privacy and agency.  He added that to really help unhoused people, the city should really be focusing on creating affordable housing, rather than trying to “manage people’s lives.” ​​

“Homeless people are human. I don’t care if they’re addicts or mentally ill, they’re still human,” Cutler said. “We need more resources. We don’t need more luxury apartments that no one can afford.”

Elicker felt some of the accusations against New Haven were unfair. He said that New Haven has done more to support unhoused people “than any other city in Connecticut,” citing the city’s purchase of a Days Inn that was transformed into a shelter and the Elm City COMPASS program, which connects individuals struggling with mental health or substance abuse to social workers and recovery specialists. 

The encampment has been supported by various groups from Yale and from around Connecticut, including Connecticut Dissenters, Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven, Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project and Yale Endowment Justice Collective.

These groups have asked their members to show up to the Green in solidarity with the encampment or to donate supplies like blankets, warm clothes and hand warmers. U-ACT and partner groups also called for Palestinian solidarity, freedom and a ceasefire to the war in Gaza, Colville said.

Germs Hancock, an organizer with CT Dissenters, said that a secondary demand of the encampment is for Yale to divest from war and reinvest in New Haven. 

“We’ve partnered with [other groups], recognizing the same oppression as the source of our two movements, or the response of our two movements, which is the denial of personhood as a means to the denial of land,” Colville said. “It’s a common oppression that both unhoused people in New Haven and, of course, Palestinian people in Palestine are experiencing.”

City Hall overlooks the New Haven Green, which is located at 250 Temple St.

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Edgar Becerra and Josue Mauricio Arana, migrant workers from Guatemala, allege that the eviction is retaliation for workers’ compensation claims the two filed against their employer, MDF Painting & Power Washing, last year after they suffered incapacitating workplace injuries. Mark DeFrancesco, the founder of MDF and co-owner of the building where Becerra and Arana have been living since July — 200 Peck St. —— disputes their claims. The Hartford, MDF’s insurer, is challenging the workers’ compensation claims.  

On his second attempt, DeFrancesco sent Becerra and Arana an eviction notice on the legal grounds of “right or privilege terminated,” an approach suggested by Judge Walter Spader in his rejection of the first eviction. Spader ruled that the workers will be given until April 30 to vacate the residence, 12 days short of the original May 12 date proposed by DeFrancesco’s attorney. The proposed date was meant to accommodate Becerra’s May 8 workers’ compensation hearing. 

Becerra said that Spader’s decision to choose an earlier eviction date was “humiliating” and “immoral.”

“I suffered a lot on [Tuesday] afternoon and I just wanted to lock myself up in my room,” Becerra told the News in Spanish. “I’m very sad, I’m not going to deny it. Sad and disappointed with what I have experienced so far on North American soil.”

In October, Becerra filed for a workers’ compensation claim after workplace falls from a 32-foot ladder and a two-story window left him with lower spine injuries. He claims that MDF did not provide workers with safety training or equipment and subjected workers to inhuman living and working conditions. 

On March 12, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration penalized MDF for failing to log work-related injuries or illnesses for the past five years and for failing to record a workplace injury on or around Sept. 12, the same date Becerra said he fell from the two-story window. OSHA originally imposed a $1,452 fine on MDF and reduced it to $750 in an informal settlement. 

The OSHA inspection remains open, and John Lugo, the community organizing director of Unidad Latina en Acción, an advocacy group for immigrant workers also called ULA, said that larger fines could be levied against MDF as long as the investigation remains open. Members of ULA staged a rally in support of Becerra and Arana outside the Superior Court before the trial on Tuesday. 

Joshua Brown, DeFrancesco’s legal representative in Tuesday’s trial, did not respond to requests for comment. 

“The court refused to hold [DeFrancesco] accountable for his actions,” Tyrese Ford, Becerra’s housing court attorney, said. “I think [DeFrancesco] wanted [Becerra] to simply go away and go back to Guatemala and avoid paying him for being injured on the job, and I think that’s exactly what he achieved. This decision essentially enabled bad behavior and an incredible injustice has occurred.”

The first eviction claim rested on the fact that Becerra and Arana had not paid for rent since October, violating their oral lease. Spader ruled that MDF had not proven the existence and terms of a week-to-week oral lease, allowing the workers to stay at 200 Peck St. 

However, Spader, in his February decision, noted that MDF could file another eviction claim under “right or privilege terminated,” the legal grounds for which Spader approved the eviction on Tuesday. 

“In the prior action, this Court found that there was no agreement between the parties and ruled for the Defendants,” Spader said in his oral decision. “There has been nothing since the prior action that has re-established the Defendants’ right to occupy the premises.” 

Ford unsuccessfully argued that the eviction was invalid because it was retaliatory. He said that DeFrancesco evicted Becerra and Arana after the two called the New Haven Police Department when they were allegedly locked out of the residence in October. Becerra told the News in February that the two were forced to sleep outside the house for two nights and had not yet received the formal eviction notice. 

During the trial, property manager Johnny Armijos said that even though he changed the house’s codes, there were two unlocked doors to the house and he shared the code with both Becerra and Arana. Armijos’ testimony was not presented in the first trial, though Becerra later disputed the property manager’s claim, according to the New Haven Independent.  

Spader ruled that Ford had failed to prove retaliation occurred. 

Inside the housing court, tensions were palpable between the two parties. During Becerra’s testimony, Lisa Hollingsworth, DeFrancesco’s sister and an MDF administrator, frequently shook her head and mouthed words as several members of ULA sat in the audience. Becerra paused his testimony to ask the judge, with the help of an interpreter, to tell Brown and DeFrancesco to show him “more respect” with their facial expressions. 

Ford said depending on fundraising efforts, he was considering appealing the Superior Court’s decision. 

As one of DeFrancesco and Becerra’s legal disputes nears its end, MDF has submitted another job order to the Department of Labor for “painting helpers” for the coming months, according to the New Haven Independent. 

MDF offices are located at 100 N Branford Rd. in Branford, Connecticut, where ULA has led several protests in recent months. 

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Children wearing “Yale Police Union” t-shirts, along with other police union supporters, handed out pamphlets to prospective students on Tuesday afternoon, calling on admitted students and their families to support the union in their 14th month of contentious contract negotiations with the University. The pamphlets mark at least the sixth time the union has branded New Haven as dangerous during active contract negotiations. 

When asked if YPBA intentionally scheduled their protest for Bulldog Days, Union Secretary Adam Marong — who was leading the protestors’ chants — told the News that they wanted to maximize the number of people hearing about the Yale Police Department’s issues negotiating with the University. 

“When you think of the Ivy League, you automatically think of trees, suburbs, so we want [incoming students and parents] to know what the level of crime is at the University so they can do the proper things to feel safe,” Marong said. 

Chanting slogans such as “Down with Yale greed, up with campus safety,” union members at the rally advocated for a speedy and fair contract settlement with a substantive raise and improved pension benefits for officers killed or injured in the line of duty. Billboard trucks paid for by the YPBA, flashing messages like “Yale: $41 Billion Endowment But Offers 1.75% Wage Increase,” circled campus for the second day. 

Pamphlets provoke University condemnation

While the rally was in line with a long history of YPBA protests during visitor events, Tuesday’s pamphlet used comparatively tame language to the “Survival Guide” leaflets distributed to first-year students and their families on move-in day in August. The heavily criticized Grim Reaper-adorned leaflets from August claimed that “some Yalies do manage to survive New Haven.” Tuesday’s pamphlet, while still branding New Haven as a dangerous city, employed a more diplomatic tone. 

YPBA President Mike Hall addressed the leaflet to prospective students and their families, where he introduced the Yale Police Department, detailed the union’s contract priorities and underscored the YPBA’s commitment to protecting “your daughters and sons.” 

Not all of the union’s claims about crime in New Haven are true. Messaging emblazoned by YPBA claimed that over 2,574 gunshots were fired in New Haven in 2023 and that New Haven was the most dangerous city in the state in 2023. 

There have been 273 confirmed shots fired from Jan. 1 to Dec. 17, 2023, down from 294 in 2022, according to public crime records from the New Haven Police Department. In downtown New Haven, the NHPD recorded six confirmed shots in 2023. While New Haven had a higher property and overall crime rate in 2023, Hartford led the state in violent crime rate, according to publicly available crime data. 

Tuesday’s pamphlet attempted to appeal to the intellect of its audience, instead of the instinctual fear like other YPBA leaflets, Jorge Camacho LAW ’10, policing, law and policy director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School told the News.

Camacho said that the pamphlet’s evidence to support the YPBA’s characterization of New Haven as a dangerous city was not convincing. Downtown New Haven, which contains Yale’s main campus, has an “incredibly low” crime rate, Camacho said.

The pamphlet also cites rising school shootings nationally and a Fox News headline that describes campus homicides in universities in Georgia, Colorado and Kentucky. Camacho said that events happening throughout the country do not prove insecurity in New Haven. Given that crime rates on college campuses are already low, for Camacho, the YPBA’s statements amount to “fear-mongering.”

Interim Senior Director of Public Safety Duane Lovello wrote that the YPBA aimed to elicit fear among students and families by utilizing “misleading” and “inflammatory” language. 

“We unequivocally condemn the irresponsible and reckless actions of those who chose to spread this inaccurate information,” Lovello wrote in a statement to the News, referring to the pamphlets passed out by the union. “There is no indication of increased campus crime approaching the levels the YPBA suggests, and we are seeing a decrease, especially in violent crimes.”

Camacho also questioned the effectiveness of appealing to prospective students.

“It’s just curious to me that, for example, they’re not disseminating this to the incoming medical students, law students, the School of Management students,” Camacho said. “They’re not targeting the older, more sophisticated students. They’re really targeting fresh-faced freshmen who are arriving. This is probably their first time out in the real world without the support of their families. And they’re trying to take advantage of that in a way that just feels like a bad tactic.” 

Rally elicits mixed response from prospective students

Prospective students’ reactions to the rally were mixed. Many accepted a pamphlet or stopped to talk with union members. Tatyana Kaul, a prospective student, said she saw a person wearing a Yale Class of 2028 shirt ripping the YPBA pamphlet in half immediately upon receiving it. 

“It’s reasonable to ask for a fair wage seeing that Yale does have such a large endowment, but at the same time I also think it’s fair for the University to have gripes about them wanting to place a 60-day cap on police complaints,” Kaul said, referencing the YPBA’s proposal to place a statute of limitations on civilian complaints against police misconduct. 

The union received honks of support from passing Yale Shuttle, Yale Facilities and New Haven public transit vehicles. 

Vivian Quint, another prospective student, said that the union staging the protest during Bulldog Days was a logical way to disrupt Yale’s programming.

“[The YPBA protesting during Bulldog Days] makes total sense as we’re new students coming in,” Quint said. “We’re seeing the pretty picture of Yale, and it makes sense that these people want us to know that it’s not a pretty picture. It’s obviously pretty strategic to do it outside the Schwarzman Center, where our signature events are.”

Hall said that the union has other rallies planned for the rest of the academic year. 

The next bargaining session between the YPBA and the University will occur on Wednesday, April 17. 

Yurii Stasiuk contributed reporting. 

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The trucks, which first appeared around 1:15 p.m., featured electronic billboards on the side that flashed four different blue-and yellow-colored messages, including “Yale: Support Your Police” and “Yale: $41 Billion Endowment But Offers 1.75% Wage Increase.”

Yale’s police union, the Yale Police Benevolent Association, has been locked in hostile negotiations with the University for 14 months and pledged last month that they would take “full advantage” of the increased spotlight of Bulldog Days.  

Cameron Davis, a high school student attending Bulldog Days, saw the truck on College Street while entering Old Campus for the first time through Phelps Gate.

“New Haven definitely has a reputation of being kind of unsafe,” Davis said. “The truck said it was the number one most unsafe city which reminded me to keep my guard up, although that wasn’t a deterrent from coming to Yale.”

While New Haven had the highest property crime rate in the state according to 2022 FBI data, Hartford led the state in violent crime rate. 

Mike Hall, the union’s president, told the News that the YPBA has paid for advertising trucks around four to five times this year, including during first-year move-in in August and parents’ weekend.

“We thought today, this week in particular, was a productive day to do it,” Hall said. “Prospective students with parents, the Yale Corporation, there’ll be lots of eyes on the truck for the next few days.”

The Corporation, Yale’s highest governing body, will meet Saturday amid a prolonged search for the University’s next president. 

Hall said that the trucks were a “tremendous way” to get the union’s message across because they attract media attention. He told the News that the trucks would return tomorrow, and the union would also be passing out flyers to prospective students.

“It is of the utmost importance to note that no matter the negotiations, all parties are committed to and focused on the safety and well-being of our students, faculty, staff, neighbors, and visitors,” Joe Sarno, Yale’s director of labor relations, wrote in a statement to the News. “This remains our top priority.”

A driver of one of the trucks told the News that two drivers were hired to circle the University on Monday and Tuesday. The driver who was hired said that he is not a member of the YPBA.

The trucks’ messages called for a strong Yale police force, saying that New Haven is a dangerous city. One of the messages read “New Haven: #1 Most Dangerous City in Connecticut.” Another said, “Support Yale Police: In 2023 Police Shot-Spotter Detected Over 2,574 Gunshots Fired In The City Of New Haven.” 

There have been 273 confirmed shots fired from Jan. 1 to Dec. 17, 2023, down from 294 in 2022, according to public crime records from the New Haven Police Department. In downtown New Haven, the NHPD recorded six confirmed shots in 2023. 

Hall said that the messages displayed on the trucks were “known facts” pulled from NHPD records and general news coverage of the city.

The police union has attempted to publicly brand New Haven as a dangerous city during the past four collective bargaining periods, dating back to 2003. YPBA demonstrations have historically coincided with events for new or prospective students and their families. 

This August, in a move harshly criticized by University and city officials, the YPBA distributed “Survival Guides” leaflets to first-years and their families on move-in day, warning of increasing crime in New Haven. 

On these flyers, too, the union used crime statistics, such as rising homicides, to point to rising insecurity in New Haven. At the time, Mayor Justin Elicker accused the union of cherry-picking select crimes recorded in a small six-month time frame to present an “offensive” narrative of the city. Both violent and property crime had been on the decline for the past three years and crime trends in New Haven were not reflective of those in downtown New Haven, where Yale’s main campus is located, he said. 

Admitted student Cameron Davis said that an increased police presence would make students feel more safe on campus.

Aaron Yang, another admitted student, said that the trucks did not make him more hesitant to engage with New Haven and found their presence amusing. 

“I’m from Georgia so this doesn’t seem as bad compared to Atlanta,” Yang said. “So I’m like, yeah whatever.”

Admitted student Sharon Chang said she found it “interesting” that the union chose to spread its message as the admitted students select their college. 

Chang said that safety was one of her priorities in choosing a college and that she was a little hesitant to choose Yale because of it. 

Both the YPBA and the University have publicly denounced the other party’s proposals during this contentious contract cycle. YPBA members have rallied against Yale’s proposed 1.75-percent wage increase proposal for months, while Sarno has repeatedly criticized the union’s attempt to place a statute of limitations on civilian complaints against police misconduct. 

The YPBA ratified its last contracts after 28 months of negotiations with the University. 

Kaitlyn Pohly and Christina Lee contributed reporting.

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Between presenting awards, University President Peter Salovey and New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker praised the increasingly collaborative relationship between the University and the Elm City. For Salovey, who cited the 2021 agreement to increase Yale’s voluntary contribution to the city, “there is no turning back” from the progress the two parties have made.

A diverse audience composed of high-level city and University officials, as well as New Haven community leaders, celebrated joint initiatives such as the creation of housing for early childhood educators, science career programming spearheaded by graduate students for New Haven high schoolers and Salovey’s commitment to education accessibility. 

Salovey, with a quip about his height, and Elicker, pulling out a pair of eclipse glasses to help with his “old age,” frequently drew laughter from the attendees. Deborah Stanley-McAuley, associate vice president of Employee Engagement and Workplace Culture and one of the honorees, said that the light-hearted nature of the event was reflective of the partnership between the city and the University. 

“I think [the jokes were] indicative of the community,” Stanley-McAuley said. “The more you work together, the more you work across boundaries, you do have that ability to laugh with one another and at another.”

A lifelong resident of New Haven, Stanley-McAuley said she was brought to tears upon learning that she had won an award. She was honored for her commitment in hiring diverse Yale employees and oversight of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, a success she attributes to the collective effort of her team. Although Yale in previous years has fallen short in fulfilling promises to hire New Haven residents, Stanley-McAuley said that Yale is now exceeding its goals. 

Two of Monday’s recipients may be especially familiar faces to the Yale community: Salovey and Marta Moret, the president’s wife, who won two of the Special Elm-Ivy Awards. 

Detailing Salovey’s accomplishments, Elicker noted the President’s initiatives to increase education access to both low-income Yale and New Haven students, as well as the 2021 increase in Yale’s voluntary contribution to the city and the creation of the Center for Inclusive Growth. Elicker also praised Moret’s dedication to healthcare accessibility for communities of color, citing her work within the Fair Haven Community Healthcare Clinic and advocacy for reducing maternal mortality of mothers of color. 

Salovey recognized the irony in winning an award he has historically presented.

“Sitting next to the Mayor [I said], one of the things that has really characterized your administration is that it’s good government,” Salovey quipped while accepting the award. “There’s no patronage, no corruption. It’s really great to see clean government in New Haven. Meanwhile, here at Yale, we just awarded awards to my wife and me.”

Following a round of chuckles, Alexandra Daum, the new associate vice president for the Office of New Haven Affairs, which hosted the event, clarified that there was a “rigorous evaluation” of awardees. Elicker said that Salovey and Moret were not notified before final award decisions were made. 

Elm awards are traditionally granted to New Haven community members, and Ivy awards are reserved for Yale affiliates.

Among the recipients of the Elm awards are Henry Fernandez, lead New Haven negotiator for the 2021 agreement and founder of LEAP, a mentorship initiative for children from historically disinvested neighborhoods in New Haven, and Doug Hausladen ’04, current executive director for the New Haven Parking Authority, for his dedication to safe streets and transit equity. 

The Friends Center for Children, an organization that provides early childhood care and education in New Haven, was also recognized for building five homes for 10 of their educators in collaboration with the Yale School of Architecture. The employee housing project contributes to the Center’s overall mission of addressing the lack of state investment in childcare, according to Miriam Johnson Sutton, the head of programs at the organization.

“Zero through five are the most formative years for a child,” Johnson Sutton said. “Having a high quality childcare setting for children to thrive supports their families, serves our community and supports our workforce.”

Stanley-McAuley received an Ivy award, along with Derrick Gorden, an associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and Susan Nappi, the executive director of the Office of Public Health Practice at the School of Public Health. Gorden was lauded for centering New Haven voices in community health initiatives and Nappi for connecting Public Health staff and students with New Haven organizations.

Hannah Foley ’24, graduate students in the Department of Immunology, and William Ginsberg, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, were also awarded. 

“Every single day, there are individuals at the University that are following their passion for supporting people in New Haven and much of today is about honoring high-level partnerships, but [also] acknowledging the individuals that work every single day to improve our city,” Elicker said. 

Established in 1979, the annual Seton Elm-Ivy awards took a hiatus in 2018 and resumed last year.

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Hall accused Yale of engaging in “strong-arm tactics,” namely asking the union to move onto economic proposals, ignoring their approximately 24 open non-economic proposals. He said the members of the Yale Police Benevolent Association — the police union — were not willing to abandon these non-economic proposals. 

The YPBA is now threatening to cancel their monthly renewal contracts with the University and organize outside of the bargaining room if negotiations continue to stall.

The previous contract, which was settled in 2018, took 28 months and over 70 bargaining sessions to settle. The YPBA and Yale have held 53 sessions this cycle.  

“We’re running out of time for someone who’s not listening to us and, in a sense, that would force us to take it away from the table and do what we have to do as a union outside of the bargaining table,” Hall said. “If we’re not being listened to or heard, you know, something’s going to have to give.”

Joe Sarno, Yale’s director of labor relations, wrote in a statement to the News that it is common practice in labor negotiations to focus on non-economic proposals before shifting to economic discussions, but did not directly address Hall’s allegation that the University was ignoring non-economic proposals. Sarno wrote that negotiations between the University and the union have yielded progress, namely in the form of 28 tentative agreements.

While Hall acknowledged that negotiations have been relatively productive, he said that numerous consequential proposals have remained unaddressed. Hall cited YPBA proposals to widen eligibility to benefits for disabled officers and for families of officers killed in the line of duty, as well as Yale’s lackluster 1.75-percent wage increase proposal. When asked if Yale police officers have previously been killed in the line of duty, Hall pointed to two police officers who were wounded, but not killed, in a 1985 shooting. 

“We are not going to settle the contract without these benefits,” Hall said of the killed-in-the-line-of-duty and long-term disability benefits. 

Sarno declined to elaborate on details of the negotiation process, citing the University’s decision to negotiate at the bargaining table instead of in the press. 

However, Sarno also characterized the union’s proposal to create a 60-day statute of limitations on civilian complaints, which was previously reported by the News, against police misconduct as “not tenable” for the University. He wrote that the proposal is incompatible with best contemporary policing practices and the relationship the Yale Police Department hopes to foster with the Yale and New Haven communities. In October, policing experts criticized the statute of limitations when the News originally reported on the proposal.

Hall said that the civilian complaints proposal has not been discussed at the bargaining table for months.

Sarno also wrote that the University cannot agree to union proposals concerning Yale Police Department rules as it would infringe on the authority of the chief of police, currently Anthony Campbell ’95 DIV ’09, who as a non-rank-and-file officer is not a union member. 

Hall attributed delays in the negotiations to a lack of high-level “decision makers” on Yale’s bargaining team, a common complaint lobbied against the University since the fall. Sarno disputed this claim, stating that the University is following the same staff model as in past negotiations. 

Contract cancellation, a current union threat, allows for collective “job actions.” At their most extreme, “job actions” can amount to coordinated sick days or a strike. Hall did not specify when asked what “job actions” might entail. However, he lamented that engaging in job actions would “jeopardize the safety and security” of the Yale community. During a tumultuous contract negotiation period in 1998, the YPBA organized a widespread sick day and held a “speed-up,” where they gave out as many tickets as possible. 

Glenn Yittig, a Yale patrol officer, said that Yale police officers are essential to the Yale community, even more so due to understaffing within the New Haven Police Department. As the sole breadwinner in a family of five, Yittig said that the stalled negotiations, in combination with the rising cost of living, have placed a financial burden on his family. 

“It’s tough, because we haven’t had a raise since 2022,” Yittig said. “Prices of everything have gone up. Inflation has gone up. I’m definitely not in the same position financially that I was a couple years ago. And it’s about time that we get the contract settled.”

Since contract negotiations began in February 2023, the relationship between the University and the YPBA has been strained. In August, the union received sharp criticism from both University and city officials over the distribution of “fear-mongering” pamphlets to incoming students and their families on move-in day. 

During the fall, YPBA representatives accused the University of a lack of commitment to the negotiation process. In line with other high-visibility protests, the YPBA held a rally on Family Weekend in October, criticizing the 1.75-percent wage increase proposal, high healthcare fees and Yale’s alleged unwillingness to negotiate fairly with the union. 

Hall said that improvements to the long-term disability and killed-in-the-line-of-duty benefits will not only better support officers and their families, but also ensure the Yale Police Department remains a competitive place to work during a nationwide shortage of police officers. 

Current long-term disability benefits state that once an officer who has been permanently disabled at work turns 65, they receive a pension based solely on their salary when they were originally injured, according to a YPBA proposal obtained by the News. For officers who were injured decades prior, this pension falls short without a cost-of-living adjustment, according to Hall. Currently, a permanently disabled officer only receives a pension with a cost of living adjustment until they turn 65. The proposed change would extend the adjustment through the entire pension.

The YPBA is also trying to loosen limits on benefits for the families of officers killed in the line of duty. Under the current contract, families of officers who had served less than five years do not qualify for any survivor death benefits and families of officers who had served less than 20 years would receive a pension between 12.5 and 50 percent of their salary, according to a YPBA proposal obtained by the News. 

“God forbid a tragedy like that happens, the officer will know his family will be provided for,” Hall said. “Our members feel that Yale has to correct this inequity … A multibillion-dollar corporation, like Yale, could easily do [it].”

Sarno emphasized that the University’s top priority remains the safety and well-being of the Yale community. He wrote that the University is seeking a fair contract with the union as soon as possible. 

The last contract between the YPBA and the University expired on June 30, 2023. 

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All four head coordinators said that their search for additional Yale funds has been unsuccessful. They said that conversations with Dwight Hall administrators and Associate Dean of Student Affairs Hannah Peck have yielded no additional sources of Yale funding, with administrators suggesting the organization begin applying to local grants or fundraising externally. 

The lack of options leaves the head coordinators at a crossroads: compete with New Haven nonprofits for grant money or create “slide decks” to appeal to future donors. For the head coordinators, who managed a tight budget last semester, neither option seems like a viable long-term strategy. 

“Our biggest fear, with all these obstacles and loopholes we’ve had to go through this past year, and the genuine stress of oh my god, are 250 people not going to be able to have dinner because we can’t find money? We don’t want that stress for the future to continue,” Enkhjin Gansukh ’25, one of the head coordinators, said.

Gansukh also said she feared that future head coordinators may “give up” due to the financial stress of the role, jeopardizing the longevity of YCK and the services it provides to the community.

Odessa Goldberg ’25, another head coordinator, said that costs have increased in recent years due to the added expense of take-out boxes and utensils, rising food prices and higher demand for meals. When Goldberg began volunteering at the YCK two winters ago, Yale students served around 50 New Haveners, she said. Now, she said, the number of people in one night has tripled. 

“I greatly admire the work of the students running YCK,” Peck wrote in an email to the News. “With the growth of their services and expenses, they are in a difficult position—to support their core mission, they are needing to develop a new funding model. I and my colleagues are available to help as they take on this new challenge.”

Steve Werlin, executive director of the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen in New Haven, said this speaks to rising food insecurity in the area, which has also resulted in a higher number and frequency of people seeking DESK services. He described YCK’s work as “critical” in the effort to provide free meals to New Haven residents, many of whom are unhoused. 

YCK, which has 27 coordinators running shifts and 963 students receiving volunteer sign-ups, falls under the umbrella organization of Yale Hunger and Homeless Action Project. According to the YCK head coordinators, YHHAP receives between less than $1,000 and $3,500 in funding once or twice a semester from the Yale College Council’s Undergraduate Organizations Funding Committee. As a Dwight Hall Member Group, YHHAP also receives up to $1,500 per semester in funding from the Dwight Hall Campus and Community Fund. 

Gansukh said that while YCK uses the majority of YHHAP’s budget, the umbrella organization also funds 12 other student organizations. 

Goldberg noted that these two sources of funding fall short of YCK’s ideal budget of $5,200 a semester. She also said the funding is inconsistent across semesters, making it difficult to preserve quality offerings to residents. 

“What we’re frustrated by is that [the funding] is inconsistent,” Goldberg said. “We don’t want that inconsistency to be offloaded to our guests and the quality of the food they can receive. So whether it is that the Dwight Hall cap is higher, or there is an exception made for YCK, or it’s through the YCC, or there is a non-variable amount that YCK receives every semester, or it is through the administration, we argue that the YCK provides a real service to the University, not just our guests, in terms of preserving Yale’s relationship with the residents of New Haven and community partners.”

Goldberg additionally noted that YCK reduces Yale’s food waste, citing YCK’s use of leftovers from Yale’s dining halls.   

With $5,200 a semester — or $300 per weekend of operations — YCK would not only be able to continue to provide nutritious meals with fruit and sweet and savory snacks but also other goods that YCK guests have expressed a need for, such as space blankets, Goldberg said. 

Mark Fopeano, director of programming and evaluation at Dwight Hall, wrote to the News that it is unlikely that a single funding source at Yale will be able to fund and guarantee $5,200 a semester on a long-term basis. He also said that it is rare that a student organization or Dwight Hall Member Group would have that amount of expenses unless they have previously secured funding, such as an endowment, or “unique relationships” with several offices or departments. 

However, Fopeano said that Dwight Hall reconsiders their funding policies every year in an attempt to better serve Yale students and New Haven partners. Dwight Hall can also provide advice and strategic support to student organizations thinking about their organizational structure, long-term sustainability and financial model, Fopeano wrote. 

“We support any student organization that is building strong relationships in the community and providing pathways for other Yale students to do so,” Fopeano wrote. “Change usually doesn’t happen overnight, so I hope that YCK continues partnering with our office and others!”

Goldberg questioned the University’s lack of available funds to fund YCK, citing the $40.7 billion endowment, and expressed concerns that applying to grants would take away funds from New Haven nonprofits. Hugo Wang ’25 said he believes there are avenues to increase caps on Dwight Hall and YCC funding and that it is a “question of priority” whether Yale chooses to expand funding options for service organizations. 

Wang said that even if YCK takes administrators’ advice to continue cutting costs, the long-term sustainability of YCK is ultimately still dependent on additional funding. 

“More broadly, there is a question here that we want the administration to think about, and hopefully answer, which is how do they fund organizations that have a big impact on the local community but in order to achieve that would need funding that goes beyond the traditional limits on available funding for student clubs and organizations?” Wang said. 

The head coordinators said that last semester, YCK cut costs by shopping at Costco instead of Stop ’n Shop and started relying on snacks and water from DESK. In the past weeks, they also met with Yale Hospitality to pursue the option of ordering bread and containers through Hospitality.

Although Goldberg described YCK’s budget situation as “urgent” last semester, the group received two grants from local foundations this semester, temporarily easing the coordinators’ financial worries. Fopeano wrote to the News that Dwight Hall assisted YCK in grant applications by serving as a lead applicant. 

However, Goldberg said that grant applications and fundraising efforts are a time-consuming and stressful responsibility for head coordinators on top of the four-person job of coordinating logistics for YCK. 

She said that YCK head coordinators have held off on formally creating a grant and fundraising arm of the YCK in hopes that future head coordinators can rely on some form of steady funding. 

Taking on grants and fundraising would fundamentally change the role of head coordinators, which has historically been to “keep the kitchen running,” according to Goldberg. 

“Because YCK has been around for 20 years, we’re cited as a food resource [by New Haven organizations],” Gansukh said. “When people come to us on Fridays and Saturdays hoping for a full nutritional meal, we have to provide that service … We have a duty to a lot of our guests we’ve established a relationship with and … we hope that relationship won’t be compromised because of this funding issue.”

YCK hands out their meals outside 323 Temple St.

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The protest comes as The Hartford, MDF’s insurer, prepares to challenge the workers’ compensation case of Edgar Becerra, according to Tyrese Ford, Becerra’s housing court attorney. Becerra, a Guatemalan migrant and former employee of MDF, says that he suffered lower spine injuries after falling from a 32-foot ladder and a two-story window. Becerra claims that MDF did not provide workers with safety training or equipment. 

MDF founder Mark DeFrancesco also moved to evict Becerra and Josue Maurcio Arana, another tenant-employee awaiting a workers’ compensation case, on Feb. 11, according to Ford. The eviction is DeFrancesco’s second attempt, his first blocked by the Connecticut Superior Court on Feb. 5. This time around, DeFrancesco used the grounds of “right or privilege terminated,” or the fact that Becerra and Arana have not paid rent, an approach suggested by Judge Walter Spader in his Feb. 5 decision.

Becerra said he will continue to fight for compensation for his injuries and lost time, not only for himself and his family but for other migrant workers who have encountered an “American nightmare.” 

“One of the things that has motivated me is not only to win compensation for the harm and physical damages that I’ve been living with but also in my heart, I have a wish to leave a precedent before the American people and before the conscience of many companies that are laborally, cannibals,” Becerra said in Spanish.

Glen Formica, Becerra’s workers’ compensation attorney, described Hartford Insurance’s decision to contest Becerra’s claim as “unusual.” Formica said that about 90 percent of the cases he has worked on go uncontested. Formica added that he didn’t understand the motivation behind contesting. 

“You get a golden ticket, you have authorized workers who are going to work their hardest for you and show up for work, happy to be there every day,” Formica said. “Why would they be putting all this in jeopardy over one guy that gets hurt on the job?”

After multiple requests for comment, MDF directed the News to John Walsh of Licari, Walsh & Sklaver, their legal representation. Walsh did not immediately respond to the request for comment. 

Approximately 20 members of Unidad Latina en Acción, including Becerra on crutches, protested in front of MDF offices in North Branford on Thursday. ULA had previously held a protest on Feb. 23. Chanting “Shame on MDF!” ULA members charged MDF with exploiting and intimidating their workers. 

About ten minutes into the protest, an MDF employee called the police. Four Branford Police Department officers arrived and eventually left once they confirmed that the protestors were not blocking the road, according to BFD Sergeant Christopher Romanello. 

ULA members also condemned what they called an “act of intimidation” against Becerra outside of 200 Peck St., where he lives, on Saturday. Becerra said that an unknown man followed him, told him he had a message from “the boss,” and said that if he did not drop his workers’ compensation complaint, he would “return to [Guatemala] in a wooden box.” 

The News was unable to independently verify these claims.

“I protested to support [Becerra] because he doesn’t have a job or money for food,” Alexandra Rodriguez, a ULA member at the protests, said in Spanish. “[Becerra’s situation] could happen to any of us. We need to support others and make sure people who don’t have family in the area feel supported so that this group is their family.” 

Roselia Aquino, another ULA member who attended the protests, said that, like Becerra, her brother-in-law suffered a workplace fall when fixing the roof of a house without safety equipment. Aquino condemned the boss’s practice of making workers buy their own safety equipment, saying that it should be the boss’s responsibility. Two years later, Aquino said that her brother-in-law still needs surgery. 

Becerra’s “labor torment” 

Becerra said that MDF eroded his dignity as a worker on his first day of working for the company in July. When he first arrived in New Haven on a working visa sponsored by MDF, Becerra said he was shown his accommodation for the next several months: an approximately 8-by-8-foot room to be shared by three people, with mattress pads on the ground as the only furniture. 

Between July and September 2023, Becerra, along with other migrant workers, painted and remodeled houses for MDF. Becerra told the News that throughout these months, MDF transported workers “like animals and tools” to work sites. On top and among construction tools, workers would wait in the back of a van among construction tools with no seats for up to two hours, according to Becerra. 

This was before Becerra suffered two serious workplace accidents: a fall from a 32-foot ladder in August and another fall from a two-story window in September. Becerra said that when he originally reported his ladder fall to MDF in August, the company disregarded his injury and left him with the choice of continuing to work or returning to Guatemala. Using house remedies and pills, Becerra self-medicated his leg pains. 

But after seriously injuring his lower spine during his fall out of the second-story window on Sept. 12, the pain became overwhelming. Although Becerra continued working on MDF projects on paper, under the guidance of his supervisor, he paused any substantial labor to rest. 

He completely stopped working on Sept. 22. After he ended up in the hospital on Sept. 26, Becerra reported the accidents to MDF, expecting workers’ compensation. He was instead fired and given a plane ticket back to Guatemala. 

“MDF itself, generally speaking, is not interested in the moral status, spiritual status, or how workers are physically or morally treated,” Becerra said in Spanish. “What they are interested in is that workers produce for them.”

Becerra also noted his priority in fighting for compensation is not about creating a precedent for migrant workers but instead about his family and three kids in Guatemala. Becerra said that while his family is currently being supported by friends and other family members, his lack of salary since September has put a strain on his household. 

Becerra said he was grateful for the support of nonprofit groups and Iglesia Cristiana Betania Asambleas de Dios, a local evangelical church, who have assisted him with food and medical expenses. But with no income, Becerra said he felt restricted in his transportation and everyday expenses. 

“We have to touch the conscience of the law, of justice so that they can order the company to quickly pay for all of the harm and injury,” Becerra said in Spanish. “Because there is a family in Guatemala. There are mouths in Guatemala that wait for bread and here, without a salary, I can’t help.”

Usually limping or using crutches, Becerra said that his lower spine injuries will need several months of rest to see progress, according to his doctor. Becerra currently attends physical therapy and has medical appointments lined up until July. 

Although Becerra is considering options to earn legal immigration status as his temporary H2-B visa expired in November, he said he was discouraged by the fact he will never physically be the same. 

“There are moments, believe me, where I’ve had to kneel and throw myself on the floor and talk only with God and ask him ‘What will happen?’” Becerra said in Spanish. “I have had to summon strength in weakness, and I say to God ‘What is happening? The law is sleeping.’ Anyone can say ‘Tolerate, bear, you’re enduring, keep on enduring.’ But they don’t know my personal family situation. And that is what most costs me morally.” 

Becerra’s next informal hearing for his workers’ compensation case is scheduled for March 15. 

In their protests, ULA called on MDF to pay injury compensation and Becerra’s medical treatment, pledging to continue their weekly protests if their demands are not met. 

Ford, Becerra’s attorney in housing court, said that MDF’s second attempt to evict Becerra and Arana has not formally entered the court system yet, as they must still serve summons and complaints to the former employees. 

“Serving a new eviction notice, despite all of the allegations, despite the proof we provided in court — they’re still moving forward with the new eviction because they do not believe the court is going to hold them accountable,” Ford said. “It is just going to enable them to continue their bad behavior, their oppressive behavior, their predatory behavior.”

MDF offices are located at 100 N. Branford Rd. in North Branford. 

Maggie Grether contributed reporting. 

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The pathway, intended to fully pedestrianize the street, will restrict vehicular traffic with the exception of emergency vehicles, similar to the pedestrian-friendly walkway — Alexander Walk — which runs from the Humanities Quadrangle on York Street to College Street.

While New Haven retains public ownership of High Street, Yale will fund and design the project, subject to the approval of the City Plan Commission and the city traffic authority and with the guidance of the High Street Conversion Advisory Committee. The University and New Haven cemented the plan on Nov. 17, 2021, when Salovey joined New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker to announce an increase in Yale’s voluntary payments to the city and the High Street project, along with other initiatives, at a press conference. 

“We’re gonna get back to that this spring,” Salovey said. “It’s time to make that a beautiful entryway to the campus for everyone — the campus community, the New Haven community and visitors from faraway places.”

Jack Callahan ’80, senior vice president for operations,  told the News that he anticipates that the programming and design phase of this project will commence sooner than in the spring. He added that the University is currently discussing requests for proposals with seven design firms.

Callahan also said that the work is more complicated than previous pedestrianization projects, such as the one to convert a portion of Wall Street into Alexander Walk in 2021. Callahan specified that on this particular portion of High Street, the presence of Skull and Bones’ tomb and the U.S. Post Office pose “accessibility concerns.” These accessibility concerns, Callahan said, include a lack of parking spots for any food deliveries, as well as the ability of maintenance and utility repairs to access buildings.

However, Callahan said that another consideration for the project is beginning a major construction project during the academic year in 2025.

At the time of the announcement, New Haveners compared the plan to pedestrianize High Street to the city’s controversial 2013 decision to sell sections of Wall and High Streets to the University for $3 million. Those sections now comprise Alexander Walk and an adjacent walkway between the Law School and Beinecke Plaza. In 2013, protesters at City Hall, along with multiple aldermen including Elicker, denounced the permanent sale of a public asset to the University and expressed concerns over Yale’s power to close streets off to the public. 

During the 2021 announcement of the High Street plan, New Haveners and Yalies questioned what the difference was between giving Yale the power to design the street and just selling the street to the University, according to the New Haven Independent. In response, Elicker noted that the street will remain permanently open to the public and that the design will be subject to the approval of the city’s planning and traffic officials.

Laura Brown, Executive Director of the City Plan Department, said that although Yale will play a substantial role in the design of the pathway, city officials and New Haven residents on the advisory committee will remain active in the selection of a design firm and the final design. Brown said that over the past few months, she has helped identify resident priorities with the project and incorporated those in the request for design firm proposals.

“It will still be important that [High Street] is still a city street that is welcoming for residents,” Brown said. 

Despite the continued public ownership of High Street, Max Chaoulideer, member of Safe Streets Coalition of New Haven, said that New Haven is still ceding much of the control of the project to Yale, continuing a precedent of yielding public authority to the University.

While Chaoulideer supports Yale investing in “safe and beautiful places” for New Haven residents and its students, he said that the University should make a more active effort to welcome New Haven residents into its public spaces. 

“I think the question will be whether pedestrianizing this block will invite reasons to spend time on High street for anyone other than Yale affiliates or if it will just solidify the use pattern already in place, which is Yale-dominated,” Chaoulideer wrote in an email to the News. “Though Yale has many buildings, events, and spaces that are technically public, they are rarely welcoming or widely advertised. Pedestrianizing the street on its own won’t change that, though it could be an invitation to do so.”

Brown characterized pedestrianization projects as “good for everyone,” emphasizing that the safety of pedestrians and cyclists as they navigate downtown is a priority for the High Street project. 

Chaoulideer views pedestrianization efforts as a way to decenter cars, which have oftentimes been prioritized over pedestrians and their safety, and a way to strengthen the role of streets as a place to gather with others. He distinguished streets, a place to be in community and linger, with roads, which are more rooted in transportation purposes. 

“When we ‘pedestrianize’ a street, what we are essentially doing is reclaiming it as a place to spend time, whether to shop, play, eat, receive care, or anything else,” Chaoulideer wrote. “In doing so, we also reprioritize safety, accessibility, sustainability, equity, and beauty. And, if parking is removed, we usually are reclaiming an enormous amount of very valuable public space.”

Yale completed landscaped pathways on the stretch of Wall Street between York Street and College Street, and on the section of High Street between Grove Street and Wall Street in 2021.

Correction, March 1: This article has been changed to include language clarifying that the design for the High Street pedestrianization project is set to begin, not the construction.

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Suffering from hip pain and spinal injuries, Becerra says he reported his workplace injuries to MDF Painting. Instead of providing worker’s compensation, MDF fired him and tried to send him on a flight back to Guatemala days later. 

Since his arrival in New Haven, Becerra has been living at 200 Peck St. in Fair Haven, at a house owned by his boss, Mark DeFrancesco, along with at least 19 other migrant workers who had come from Guatemala on H-2B visas sponsored by MDF. While still living at 200 Peck St. Becerra filed a workers’ compensation complaint on Oct. 23; two weeks later, his boss and landlord, DeFrancesco, served him and another tenant-employee, Josue Mauricio Araña, an eviction notice. 

Becerra and MDF have been embroiled in two legal disputes: Becerra’s worker’s compensation case and DeFrancesco’s eviction claim. On Monday, the Connecticut Superior Court denied the eviction, but left the door open for DeFrancesco to evict Becerra and Araña through a different method. Becerra is awaiting his worker’s compensation hearing next week. 

The News spoke to two experts who said that obstacles to reporting make it difficult to quantify workers’ compensation abuse, but cases like Becerra’s are part of a wider pattern of thin protections for migrant workers.

Tyrese Ford, Becerra’s housing court lawyer, said he hopes Becerra’s case raises awareness about the ways migrant workers in New Haven remain vulnerable. 

“Hypothetically, if Edgar had never reached out to us and let us know the situation, would the public have known about their situation?” Ford said. “How would we have known that was going on around the corner on 200 Peck St.?” 

Becerra suffered multiple injuries, allegedly slept on the street after eviction 

MDF’s website advertises a close-knit team, urging workers to join a company that’s like an “extended family.” But Becerra’s experience with MDF, as he described it, paints a different picture. 

Becerra arrived in New Haven in July 2023 on a temporary work visa sponsored by MDF, slated to expire on Nov. 30. When Becerra arrived at 200 Peck St., he discovered at least 19 other MDF workers from Guatemala already living in the house, according to documents filed by his attorney. According to Becerra, no bed was available and he slept on the floor of a third-floor bedroom. DeFrancesco denied this at trial, saying he provided the tenants with mattresses. MDF paid Becerra almost $17 an hour; DeFrancesco set rent at $75 a week. 

In August, Becerra fell from a 32-foot ladder while painting for MDF and suffered leg and hip injuries, according to documents submitted by his attorney. Becerra said he reported the injury to MDF, who required him to continue working. 

MDF and Mark DeFrancesco’s attorney did not respond to multiple requests to comment. 

In September, Becerra said he fell head-first from a second-floor window while working; MDF again allegedly ignored his injury and told him to return to work. 

At the trial, Becerra claimed that MDF did not provide safety equipment, such as helmets, gloves or cable, to its workers, according to the New Haven Independent. 

The documents introduced by Becerra’s attorney claim that on Sep. 26, Becerra, “unable to manage the pain,” was admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital and diagnosed with a lower spine and hip injury. The next day, MDF allegedly told Becerra they would fire him and send him back to Guatemala if he did not return to work. When he did not return to work, Becerra was fired.

On Sep. 30, Lisa Hollingsworth, DeFrancesco’s sister and a principle of MDF, texted Becerra telling him DeFrancesco had bought plane tickets for him back to Guatemala the following day. 

“Great news. Mark approved to pay for your flight,” the text read, instructing Becerra to “pack and have your things ready,” according to the court decision. The next day, Hollingsworth texted Becerra the flight confirmation code. Becerra did not board the flight. 

Becerra alleges that in October, MDF changed the lock code to the Peck Street residence. Unable to access the house, Becerra and Araña slept outside for two days before contacting New Haven Police, who ordered MDF to allow Becerra and Araña back into the house. During the trial, DeFrancesco claimed that the lockout was purely accidental, according to the New Haven Independent. 

Becerra filed a report of injury with the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Commission on Oct. 23; his workers’ compensation case is still pending. Around this time, Becerra was hospitalized for over a week for work-related injuries. 

On Nov. 6, MDF served Becerra and Araña an eviction notice, ordering the men to leave 200 Peck St. within the week. In late November, DeFrancesco and his attorney Joshua Brown filed an eviction complaint against Becerra and Araña in court, officially beginning the legal dispute that culminated in Monday’s decision. 

Housing court denies eviction, for now 

The eviction dispute was heard first on Jan. 11 and again on Jan. 16. DeFrancesco claimed that both tenants were bound by weekly, oral lease agreements. 

On Monday, Judge Walter Spader issued a decision siding with Becerra and Araña, ruling that MDF had not proved the existence and terms of a week-to-week oral lease.

However, the decision noted that Becerra and Araña have not paid DeFrancesco for the continued residence in the house, leaving open the opportunity for MDF to file another eviction claim under “right or privilege terminated.” 

A footnote in the decision stated that there was nothing to suggest that MDF’s eviction case was retaliation against Becerra’s workers’ compensation claim — a major part of Becerra’s defense. 

“Did this decision inch us toward justice? I would say yes,” said Ford, Becerra’s attorney at New Haven Legal Assistance Association. “Did it do enough? No. But it did provide us with more time and opportunity to seek justice.” 

Becerra’s case example of limited migrant protections

According to Glenn Formica, the attorney representing Becerra in his workers’ compensation case, workers’ compensation can be one of the most expensive components of a construction job, and construction companies often use undocumented migrant workers to skirt those costs. Formica said he has encountered many undocumented workers who fear deportation if they file a workers’ compensation complaint against their employer. 

While Becerra came to New Haven on an H-2B visa, Formica estimated that around two-thirds of the workers he represents are undocumented. Becerra stands out from other cases of migrant workers injured on the job because he has gone public with his case and is pursuing legal compensation, Formica said. 

Professor Sheila Hayre, who teaches immigration law and serves as the faculty advisor for the Human Trafficking Prevention Project at Quinnipiac University School of Law, said that the protections for undocumented workers compared to those with temporary working status are like “night and day.” 

However, she emphasized that workers with legal working permission still face hurdles in reporting workplace injuries, and oftentimes, return back to their own countries to receive care before receiving compensation. 

“You can imagine yourself [suffering a workplace injury on a temporary working visa], and just feeling like I just want to go home,” Hayre said. “Situations like that, where you feel like the employer has provided housing and a job and everything else, the logistics of ‘how do I even survive while I’m fighting this case?’ I think it is a really huge issue.”

Hayre noted that difficulty in switching employers, who sponsor the visa, can prevent migrant workers from leaving exploitative or problematic employers. She also said that employers can “blacklist” workers from future work visas in the U.S., enabling employers to hang this potential ban over workers’ heads. As a result, many workers “put up” with unfair working conditions because they feel like they lack other options, according to Hayre. 

A lack of awareness among migrant workers of their labor rights additionally reduces reporting and obscures the extent of migrants working in unsafe conditions on a national scale, according to Hayre.

“What I’m proud of Edgar about as a client, is that he’s standing up and saying, ‘hey, I’m every bit as human as the next guy. I’m injured, and I’m taking advantage of it,’” Formica said. “I think in a general sense, Edgar is just trying to stand up and assert his own humanity. By example, he’s trying to assert the humanity of all foreign workers.” 

Becerra’s workers compensation case hearing is scheduled for next Thursday, Feb. 15. 

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