Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

CT Senate passes bill restricting cooperation with ICE

  • Justice
  • by Mark Pazniokas and Jenna Carlesso
  • May 15, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

mark pazniokas :: ctmirror.org

Sen. Gary Winfield, left, defends the immigration bill. At right is an opponent, Sen. John Kissel.

Connecticut jumped back into the contentious national debate over immigration enforcement as Senate Democrats voted early Wednesday to pass a bill that would further restrict how police and court personnel can work with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants.

The bill would expand the Trust Act, a measure that effectively rebuked President Barack Obama’s immigration enforcement policies when passed six years ago by prohibiting the detention of undocumented immigrants in the absence of a threat to public safety, an outstanding arrest warrant or a final order of deportation.

The new bill is a reaction to the even more aggressive polices of President Donald J. Trump, and its passage is a consequence of the gains Democrats made in 2018 in what was largely seen as a referendum on the Republican president. After sharing power for two years in an evenly divided Senate, Democrats now have a 22-14 majority.

With one Democrat absent due to a family emergency, the Senate voted 20-15  at 1:50 a.m. after nearly an  eight-hour debate to pass and send the measure to the House of Representatives. Sen. Joan Hartley, D-Waterbury, voted with all 14 Republicans against the bill.

“It is a very scary time for a number of people in this country. We’re seeing an unprecedented attack on immigrants in this country,” said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “Our state is better than that.”

“It is a very scary time for a number of people in this country. We’re seeing an unprecedented attack on immigrants in this country. Our state is better than that.”

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk

The measure would prohibit the detention of anyone on a civil detainer lodged by ICE unless is is accompanied by a warrant signed by a state or federal judge. 

It also would limit the circumstances under which law enforcement officers may disclose confidential information to a federal immigration authority, and it no longer would allow local authorities to detain an undocumented immigrant on the basis of being a threat to public safety.

“Why would we do this? I’m dumbfounded,” said Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown.

“We’re talking about terrorists here,” said Sen. Dan Champagne, R-Vernon, referring to the elimination of the provision relating to persons deemed a public threat.

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, said elements of the legislation would appropriately strengthen the due process rights of immigrants facing civil detainer orders issued by ICE, and many Republicans would have supported a more tightly focused bill.

“You cannot hold somebody against their will for a civil matter,” Fasano said. But he added, “It just goes too far. It is so far reaching.”

Fasano said the bill also is confusing, providing a hard to follow map for law enforcement.

“Why would we do this? I’m dumbfounded.”

Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Watertown

Democrats said the bill was necessary to underscore that immigrants, regardless of their legal status, can safety report crimes and otherwise cooperate with local police and trust that they will not be turned over to ICE.

“The ability to do local policing is impacted when immigrant communities or perceived immigrant communities would actually look at them as federal ICE agents or as extensions of those, and that restricts their ability to be able to take care of the local issues, whether there are criminal activities in the community, whether domestic abuse or human trafficking,” said Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor.

Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, a lead sponsor and co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, said preserving immigrants’ trust in the police was the reason for his support of the new bill and the original Trust Act of 2013.

“While we might say this particular community feels afraid to interact with the police,” Winfield said, “the crimes that happen in those communities will not always be limited to those communities.”

Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, said other states have adopted far more stringent Trust Acts since Connecticut passed its original bill in 2013.

Republicans countered that the new bill goes further, hampering the ability of local law enforcement to detain potentially dangerous immigrants — or to even truthfully answer when ICE inquires about an immigrant who may be in police custody.

“I believe the title of this bill is a misnomer. I don’t believe this is a Trust Act any more,” said Sen. George Logan, R-Ansonia, the son of Guatemalan immigrants. “This bill should be titled, ‘Connecticut: Sanctuary State.’ ”

A series of Republican amendments to narrow the bill failed on party-line votes.

Sen. John A. Kissel, R-Enfield, said his constituents are solidly opposed to making Connecticut a sanctuary state.

“They don’t like sanctuary universities, they don’t want sanctuary cities and they certainly don’t want Connecticut to be a sanctuary state. Not because there’s an inherent dislike of illegal immigrants or undocumented aliens; that’s not it at all,” Kissel said. “They feel that if you want to come here, come here legally. But some people don’t want to wait in line. Some people don’t want to go through the hoops. Some people don’t want to deal with the hassle.”

Citing research by an immigration clinic at the Yale Law School, the Connecticut Immigration Rights Alliance complained in March that some judicial marshals, who provide security at state courthouses and lock-ups, enforced civil immigration detainers in possible violation of the 2013 law. 

A single marshal was responsible for enforcing more than half of ICE detainers over a one-year period reviewed from September 2016. But the group’s report indicated that 45 of the 50 persons detained for ICE were under a final order of removal, one of the criteria allowed in the 2013 law.

According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, Connecticut is one of nine states to have laws limiting the cooperation of local courts and law enforcement with ICE, while nine state have passed anti-sanctuary laws.

Kathleen Megan contributed to this report.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

Jenna Carlesso is CT Mirror’s Health Reporter, focusing on health access, affordability, quality, equity and disparities, social determinants of health, health system planning, infrastructure, processes, information systems, and other health policy. Before joining CT Mirror Jenna was a reporter at The Hartford Courant for 10 years, where she consistently won statewide and regional awards. Jenna has a Master of Science degree in Interactive Media from Quinnipiac University and a Bachelor or Arts degree in Journalism from Grand Valley State University.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Equity issues dominate hearing on Lamont’s marijuana bill
by Kelan Lyons and Mark Pazniokas

The administration's testimony took up the hearing's first five hours. More than 130 people are signed up to speak.

Three weeks into COVID-19 vaccinations, DOC has vaccinated 10% of inmates, 40% of staff
by Kelan Lyons

Fewer than 850 incarcerated people had been vaccinated as of Feb. 22.

Judiciary Committee hears testimony on changes to last summer’s police accountably bill
by Kelan Lyons

One police chief said they need more time to train officers on new use-of-force rules.

Price tag for state police at Capitol non-protest: $125,000
by Dave Altimari

The National Guard also spent $122,000 in overtime to protect the Capitol and other buildings during that week.

Lamont to nominate diverse first class of trial judges
by Mark Pazniokas

Gov. Ned Lamont is naming Robert Clark as an appellate judge and eight women and seven men as trial judges.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Lamont’s new vaccination priorities are simple and smart
by Richard Davies

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new age-eligibility vaccine plan is simple, smart and straightforward. The more complicated the rules are, the greater the chance of screw-ups and of well-connected people getting their shots before they should. The governor is doing a good job.

Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO