Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen on Tuesday asked U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to clarify new rules requiring that those seeking federal policing money certify they are cooperating with federal immigration authorities. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy also have written Sessions over his policy of cracking down on “sanctuary” cities and states by withholding federal law enforcement funds.
Immigration
Posted inJustice
Second immigrant takes sanctuary in a New Haven church
Updated at 11:15 p.m.
In the face of a deportation order, an Ecuadorian immigrant who came to the United States to flee violence has taken sanctuary in a New Haven church — an act of defiance that was welcomed Tuesday evening by the city’s political representatives and immigration advocates.
Posted inPolitics
Immigrant youth face new threat of deportation
WASHINGTON — Nearly 10,000 immigrant youth in Connecticut who were given provisional legal status under an Obama-era policy now fear an end to the program that shielded them from deportation.
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Posted inNews
Immigrant mom who took refuge in a church can go home
Hundreds of immigrant rights activists took to the streets of Fair Haven to celebrate — rather than protest as planned — after a 43-year-old woman taking sanctuary in a neighborhood church won a stay allowing her to remain in the country.
Posted inJustice
As nation listens, immigrant mom embraces new role
Originally worried about negative attention from going public with her story, Chavarria has now embraced her role as a figure in a national debate. “It’s good that people know [my situation]. It’s important for us, for everybody; not only for me,” she said.
Posted inJustice
Vigil supports immigrant who took refuge in New Haven church
More than 200 people staged a vigil Sunday to support Nury Chavarria, 43, a single mother of four American citizens facing deportation for entering the country illegally. A resident of Connecticut for 24 years, she has taken up residence inside Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church and plans to stay there until U.S. immigration authorities reconsider her case.
Posted inPolitics
U.S. House takes aim at ‘sanctuaries’ like Connecticut
WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives, on largely party-line votes, approved two bills Thursday aimed at tightening immigration enforcement and stripping local jurisdictions of federal policing money if they don’t fully cooperate with immigration authorities.
Posted inPolitics
Immigrant advocates say CT didn’t act to help undocumented at ‘crucial’ time
WASHINGTON — With a federal crackdown on the undocumented underway, Connecticut’s immigrant advocates who were hoping for help from Democratic state lawmakers are bitterly disappointed legislators failed to provide any new protections.
Posted inEducation
College aid for undocumented students ends without a vote
A years-long campaign to allow undocumented students to receive financial aid at Connecticut’s public colleges almost certainly will not achieve its goal this year, and its future chances are in doubt.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Trump budget makes another attempt to target ‘sanctuaries’
WASHINGTON — Tucked into the massive $4.4 trillion budget President Donald Trump released this week is the administration’s latest attempt to punish cities and states, like Connecticut, that it considers “sanctuaries,” a move the Malloy administration and others say is unconstitutional.
Posted inEducation, Politics
Activist’s arrest sets back college aid for undocumented students
One activist’s arrest has offset months of lobbying for a bill that would have allowed undocumented students to receive financial aid at Connecticut’s public colleges.
Posted inJustice
Barrios’ deportation case one of many in CT
WASHINGTON — The case of Luis Barrios, a Guatemalan native who faces deportation after decades of living in Derby and forming a family in the United States, has captured the sympathy of his neighbors and key federal lawmakers, who have intervened to try to keep him in the United States. But his case is not unique. Many immigrants like Barrios who were not in danger of deportation now may be.
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Congress faces choice of budget deal or federal shutdown
WASHINGTON — When Congress returns from its two-week recess next week it will have just days to approve a bill that would fund the federal budget and prevent a government shutdown that would affect a broad swath of Connecticut residents – from Head Start students to workers in the state’s defense industry.
Posted inJustice
Despite immigrant-friendly stance, CT shares information with ICE
Updated at 9:20 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s confidence that Connecticut won’t be subject to Trump administration punishment of “sanctuary” cities and states is based on its policy of information-sharing with federal immigration authorities.
Posted inJustice
When the kids are American, and the parents face deportation
Connecticut opened an outreach campaign Wednesday to undocumented immigrants in the state who are the parents of an estimated 22,000 American-born children, urging them to select a “standby guardian” in the event they are detained or deported. If 10 percent of them ended up in state care, the cost would be $60 million.
