While many people on the Northeast coast are digging themselves out of a blizzard this morning, media reports and an FBI investigation indicate that some Latinos in East Haven, Connecticut are digging themselves right on out of the town.

Earlier this month the FBI launched an investigation against the East Haven Police Department because of complaints of racial profiling and criminal activity against Latinos including physical assault.

But Justice Department Civil Rights investigation or not, AP reported yesterday that Latinos are closing up shops that they have invested time and money in because the harassment has gotten so out of control.

Hispanic business owners say police made a practice of parking outside their shops and stopping any Latinos. Some who complained say they faced retaliation.

Luis Rodriguez, an immigrant from Ecuador who owns the Los Amigos Grocery, said he was arrested two months ago and jailed for five days after a woman pointed out to police that his 3-year-old son was unsupervised on the sidewalk outside the store. He said police were out for revenge because his wife had been videotaping them. He was charged with child neglect; the case is still pending.

Meanwhile, his store is up for sale. Ecuadoreans used to travel from as far as Massachusetts for jalapenos, Ecuadorean sodas and other specialty products. But Rodriguez said police have scared customers away by threatening to alert immigration authorities if they ever saw them in town again.

The article, which I found in the L.A. Times yesterday points out other Latinos like Rodriguez who are planning their move out of East Haven and the Latinos cross the Latino spectrum, including Puerto Ricans and Ecuadorians.

I don’t know much about East Haven personally, but based on the articles I have read it seems to be following the pattern of other East Coast cities and towns, where older immigrant populations from Europe struggle to accept changing demographics, meaning Latin American immigrants. It is the story of my own neighborhood which has it’s history of racial violence against Latinos.

Interestingly enough, New Haven, neighbor to East Haven, was highlighted here in 2007 for it’s groundbreaking policy which allowed access to I.D. cards for the undocumented.

Seems that we are moving into the new year with some of the same old attitudes and actions targeting our communities.