This story has been updated.
Officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s New England Office announced Wednesday that they had arrested 65 immigrants in Connecticut in a four-day operation dubbed “Operation Broken Trust.”
The announcement comes after advocates in multiple cities in Western Connecticut alerted residents and organized protests about increased federal immigration enforcement activity last week.
Last Thursday, immigration advocates held a rally in Stamford to protest recent ICE activity in the city. Two men were reportedly arrested at the Stamford Superior Courthouse on Aug. 11. According to reporting by CT Public, the two men were there for a follow-up appointment after being the victims of an armed robbery.
The group Greater Danbury Unites for Immigrants said in a Thursday release that federal agents have been seen at the courthouse on a regular basis. The group says that on Aug. 12, six people were arrested on their way to work, and an additional four were arrested on Aug. 13. On Aug. 14, two people were allegedly arrested at Danbury Superior Court.
Videos posted on social media show confrontations between advocacy groups and ICE agents in the parking lot of Danbury Superior Court, as the officials arrest a man and a woman. The videos show a group of officers dressed in tactical gear, some of whom wore masks.
According to ICE, 29 of the 65 people arrested had been either charged with or convicted of “serious crimes.” Of the 13 people named in the release, five were arrested in Stamford, two in Norwalk, and six in Danbury. Some of the 13 people identified in the release had been convicted of crimes, including drug possession, sexual assault, DUI and larceny, according to ICE. Others were facing charges, including assault, breach of peace, and carrying a dangerous weapon.
It isn’t clear from the release how many of the 65 people arrested had been convicted of crimes.
Mayor Roberto Alves told CT Mirror he was unaware of “Operation Broken Trust” and didn’t know how many people had been arrested. He said he believed the fact that Danbury was one of the most diverse cities in the state made it a target for federal immigration enforcement.
Alves said he’d held small group meetings with leaders in the community and nonprofits, and that he was in “constant contact” with Attorney General William Tong. As a local leader, he said, they tried to ensure that people knew where to go for help.
At a press conference in Danbury on Wednesday, activists decried the arrests.
Advocates spoke about what they witnessed at the courthouse in the last week. Juan Fonseca Tapia, an organizer with Greater Danbury United for Immigrants, said one of the four people arrested on Thursday at the Danbury courthouse was an 18-year-old who had been arrested because of a noise complaint.
Also present at the press conference were the sister and girlfriend of Edwin Calva, a 27-year-old from Ecuador who was arrested last Thursday. According to ICE, Calva had been convicted for larceny and arrested on charges of domestic violence, third-degree assault and breach of peace.
According to the Judicial Branch’s website, Calva’s cases are still pending, and he has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
He also faces charges of 2nd-degree criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and 2nd-degree unlawful restraint, all misdemeanors. Two charges of violating a protective order are felonies.
His sister, Monica Apolinario, said Calva was called to court by his public defender on a day when he wasn’t scheduled for a hearing.
Jossie Gutierrez, Calva’s girlfriend, said in Spanish that Calva had been the only person supporting his mother, who lives in Ecuador and is ill. Gutierrez said they still had no idea where Calva was or why he had been arrested. She said she was afraid Calva would meet the same fate as his nephew, who was deported to his country of origin and killed.
Juliana Soares, a member of Greater Danbury United for Immigrants and one of the advocates present at the courthouse last Thursday, said she was pushed by ICE agents and threatened with pepper spray and arrest.
“ An ICE agent walked straight into me, bumped into me while screaming at me to back up, then shoved me forward into a group of five other armed agents while also calling for my arrest. Another one pushed me so forcefully I had to take a step back, otherwise I would’ve fallen. And another one in the midst of all of this screamed back up so loudly into my ear that it started to ring,” she said.
People present at the Wednesday rally called on elected officials to do more to protect immigrants and support family members of people arrested by ICE. Fonseca Tapia criticized Gov. Ned Lamont, saying there needed to be a way to keep personal data from being shared with the federal government. Soares called on local government to ensure that local law enforcement would not cooperate with ICE, to give the school district resources to host workshops to prepare families who might be at risk, and to create a plan for how the city would respond if ICE agents appeared at schools or hospitals.
Danbury law enforcement has said they do not work with ICE, and that ICE does not inform them when it is conducting arrests.
At the press conference, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said he was planned to open an investigation into ICE’s conduct on the streets in communities.
In Norwalk, ICE officers sat in the parking lot of the police department on Thursday and Friday. Mayor Harry Rilling and Police Chief James Walsh put out a statement on Friday saying that ICE had not been authorized to sit in the parking lot and that they were asked to leave on both days. Rilling said during a press conference on Friday that the police department was not working with ICE.
Walsh said that he and Rilling had a long conversation with federal authorities to “voice their displeasure” about ICE officers’ using the parking lot. Walsh told The Connecticut Mirror on Wednesday that he did not know of any additional ICE activity this week.
Police in Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford all told CT Mirror that they were not aware of “Operation Broken Trust” and that they did not know the number of people who were arrested or detained by ICE.
Attorney General William Tong said in a statement Wednesday that “violent criminals should be arrested, prosecuted, and where appropriate, deported,” although he added that he could not verify the information that ICE provided regarding the people they had arrested.
A video posted to social media showed two brothers, Ricardo and Leonard Chavez, tased and arrested by ICE agents in Norwalk in the middle of the street. Walsh said at the press conference that police had removed a vehicle with smashed windows from Main Street.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde criticized Connecticut’s Trust Act, which prohibits local and state law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, unless the person has been convicted of certain serious crimes, is on the federal terrorist list or is the subject of a judicial warrant.
“Sanctuary legislation like Connecticut’s Trust Act only endangers the communities it claims to protect. Such laws only force law enforcement professionals to release criminal alien offenders back into the very communities they have already victimized,” Hyde told Fox News.
This year, the Trust Act was modified to allow individuals to sue over alleged violations of the law but also expanded the situations in which officials can comply with federal immigration detainers — and not be subject to such litigation. Sexual assault, injury or risk of injury to a child, strangulation, burglary with a firearm, possessing child sexual abuse material, enticing or sexually exploiting a minor and violating a protective order are now crimes that allow Connecticut law enforcement to hand someone over to ICE.
On Aug. 13, U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi sent a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont in which she said that Connecticut had been placed on a list of jurisdictions that “engages in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of the interests of the United States.”
She asked Lamont to confirm “your commitment to complying with federal law and identif[y] the immediate initiatives you are taking to eliminate laws, policies, and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement.”
Lamont wrote back that Connecticut law does not stop federal immigration enforcement from carrying out operations. He also criticized the federal government for practices like arresting people at courthouses, which he said make it more difficult for law enforcement officers to do their jobs.
“We all agree that violent criminals should be arrested, prosecuted, and, when appropriate, deported, which is why Connecticut law facilitates law enforcement working with federal officers in those instances. Unfortunately, DHS’s current deportation tactics undermine legitimate law enforcement by instilling fear among residents and interfering in the orderly functioning of our state courts,” the letter reads.
In a statement to CT Mirror, Rob Blanchard, a spokesperson for Lamont, underscored that Connecticut is not a “sanctuary” state — a term that he said has no legal definition.
“As [Operation Broken Trust] proves, nothing in Connecticut law prevented immigration officials from conducting these enforcement efforts, contrary to their own agency’s assertions,” Blanchard said.
Sen. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, and Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, called the ICE operation “excellent news.”
“Connecticut’s streets are now safer. Violent offenders are now in custody. The federal government clearly has taken note of Connecticut’s super-sanctuary policies, even though Gov. Lamont and Democrats really, really don’t want the term ‘sanctuary state’ applied to our state,” they said in a statement.
Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, the House Minority Leader, also praised ICE for its “successful operation targeting and removing criminals from our communities” while criticizing Connecticut’s policies, which he said “provide sanctuary for individuals with extensive criminal histories, including members of transnational gangs.”
“Connecticut residents want and deserve leadership that puts their safety first by working cooperatively with federal authorities to ensure that those who pose threats to our communities are captured and removed,” he said in a statement.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Edwin Calva’s relative who was deported and then killed in his home country as his brother. It was his nephew.