A routine workday for a Latino landscaper took a troubling turn in late May, when Rudy Cornejo Figueroa said he faced an assault in Stamford.
Cornejo, a landscaper from Guatemala, was working when he said a man confronted him, accusing him of blowing grass clippings and dirt onto his 2023 Mazda MX-5 and insulting him.
“He kept using foul language and called me a criminal multiple times,” he said. “He called me a criminal immigrant. Sometimes people say things like that to Hispanics, calling them criminals. I ignored him and kept working, but then the man stood in front of me.”
The situation escalated when the man pushed Cornejo, and Cornejo pushed back in self-defense, according to a report by Stamford Police.
“I started recording him,” Cornejo explained.
His video recording of the incident drew attention on social media, and prompted discussions within Stamford’s Latino community about incidents of harassment that often go unreported.
Feeling safe to ask for help
Cornejo himself hesitated to press charges, at first, because he said he was worried about his immigration status, and just wanted the man to leave. Now, he said he regrets not pressing charges sooner.
State Rep. Anabel Figueroa called on Stamford police to revisit Cornejo’s case.
“That was a racial act, and we cannot allow those kinds of abuses,” Figueroa said.
She also offered her support to anyone experiencing discrimination and encouraged them to reach out to her office for help.
"The problem is that our people are afraid. They get assaulted, and they do absolutely nothing because they’re undocumented,” said Brenda Ortiz, an advocate for immigrant rights based in Stamford. “They’re threatened with calls to the police or immigration."
Ortiz argues that discrimination against Latino immigrant workers is a pervasive issue in the city.
"Of course, there’s discrimination. And it’s everywhere, especially if you’re Latino,” Ortiz said.
She said these workers often face unfair treatment, from being targeted by derogatory language to experiencing unequal pay and unsafe working conditions. Ortiz said that such discrimination is a persistent problem that needs greater attention and action.
“No one says anything, as if it’s OK for this to happen to us,” Ortiz said. “But if something like this happened to a white person, it would be taken to the extreme.”
Some incidents of harassment and discrimination have also been reported in Stamford’s education system and housing segregation, but Ortiz says fear often stops people from speaking up in many of those cases, too.
A problem that’s hard to quantify
Elena Perez, executive director of Building One Community in Stamford, said her immigrant services nonprofit has not seen an uptick in incidents of harassment against Latino community members.
“Incidents may occur, but we are not really seeing an escalation in hostility towards immigrants,” Perez said. “There are some cases where some of these workers, maybe they are getting unpaid wages, you know they are not getting the full amount.”
Perez emphasized the importance of everyone doing their part to ensure that Stamford and beyond remains welcoming to all communities.
Meanwhile, Richard Conklin, Assistant Chief of Police for the Stamford Police Department, confirmed that the department does not consider immigration status in its investigations. He urges anyone who feels wronged to come forward without fear.
“If someone's been wronged or harassed or abused, we want them to come forward and make complaints to the police department,” Conklin said. “We're not concerned about the immigration status.”
In the months since Cornejo decided to press charges, Cornejo’s alleged attacker has been charged with third-degree assault and breach of peace. He posted a $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court in September.
When asked about whether this is part of a trend of discrimination against Latinos in Stamford, Conklin said he hears workers often face the brunt of incidents.
“I'm sure it does take place,” Conklin said. “One of the things I have heard is that sometimes employers are not fair with immigrants because they know their status, and they'll have them work sometimes and then just abandon them and not pay them.”
Reflecting on the incident he faced on the job in Stamford, Cornejo noted that while he has faced racism before in the city, this incident felt particularly alarming. He said he and his family are concerned about future encounters.
"I encountered a racist man because, in the video, you can see the hatred he had towards me, though I don't know why. Throwing scissors at me is an act of racism, as is calling me a criminal,” Cornejo said. “I am not a criminal.”
