WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s members of the U.S. House have invited State of the Union guests who are involved in issues the lawmakers hold dear.
Immigration
CT federal workers to be paid, but government could shut down again
Washington — There’s a truce, not an end to the fighting that caused the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
Relief program for Coast Guard members off to slow start
WASHINGTON — Few have taken advantage of a Connecticut program that provides thousands of dollars for Coast Guard employees.
Conn. federal courts bracing for shutdown’s impact
Washington — The latest victim of the partial government shutdown, now entering its second month, are the state’s federal courts, at least its employees.
Hayes joins hunt for McConnell in attempt to end shutdown
WASHINGTON – Followed by a phalanx of journalists, Rep. Jahana Hayes joined a group of House Democratic freshmen Wednesday who went on the hunt for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pressure him to hold votes on Democratic bills that would end the shutdown. They did not find McConnell, but even if they had, there’s little evidence they would succeeded in ending a 26-day stalemate.
Trading immigration deal for border wall appears unpopular way to end shutdown
WASHINGTON – As it was the last time the federal government closed, protection for young immigrants known as “Dreamers” has been raised as a possible bargaining chip in a deal to end the partial shutdown. But as Democrats and Republicans alike panned a large-scale immigration deal for President Trump’s wall as the solution to a shutdown, it appears an elusive solution.
End to federal shutdown elusive, impact will grow in CT
Terence Ward has worked for the U.S. Justice Department for 28 years and plans to continue to do so, but after next Friday, he and all 22 employees of the federal public defender’s office in the state will work without pay if the government shutdown continues. Ward is one of about 1,500 federal employees in the state affected by the shutdown, which isn’t likely to end soon and whose impact in Connecticut will grow with time.
Immigrant crackdown targets Vietnamese who’ve lived in U.S. for years
The Trump administration is pressuring Vietnam to uphold a 2008 agreement and take back refugees who came to the United States before 1995. Many Vietnamese who came to the United States before 1995, some of them fleeing the Vietnam War, have lived in a gray area of immigration law. If they had a criminal record, they could not attain legal status, but they could not be deported either.
As positions harden, likelihood of quick end to federal shutdown dims
WASHINGTON – Efforts to end a partial government shutdown failed Saturday as Congress put off the issue until after Christmas, meaning there’s no quick end to closures that will affect about 1,500 government workers in Connecticut and those who need certain services.
CT would feel aftershocks of federal government shutdown
WASHINGTON – A looming federal shutdown will affect some 1,500 federal employees in Connecticut and impact state residents seeking certain services – but it won’t be felt like the 2013 shutdown that shuttered Head Start centers and provoked the state’s defense contractors to prepare to furlough employees.
‘Public charge’ proposal concerns immigration advocates, attorneys
A Trump administration proposal that would change the way the government determines whether someone is likely to be a “public charge” could be deterring immigrants with legal status and parents of citizen children across Connecticut from accessing a range of public benefits like food stamps or Medicaid.
Murphy, Corey in a quiet contest for U.S. Senate in contentious midterm
WASHINGTON – Connecticut’s race for U.S. Senate gives voters a clear ideological choice between Chris Murphy, a progressive Democrat seeking re-election to that chamber for the first time, and Matthew Corey, a conservative Republican who has never held public office and is running on his “outsider” status.
CT GOP candidates weigh Trump’s plan for immigration crackdown
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump plans to announce a sweeping border crackdown this week, days before the mid-term elections, in a “red meat” speech aimed at firing up the GOP base. While that speech may help GOP candidates in other states, a tough approach to immigration is likely to provide less of a boost to Republican candidates in Connecticut, although some embrace the plan.
Santos in quiet campaign to break Democratic representation in Congress
WASHINGTON – Republican Manny Santos is swimming against a blue tide this year, hoping to break the Democratic stranglehold on Connecticut’s representation in Congress by defeating a Democrat who has captured national attention and has a huge campaign fundraising lead. Santos himself rues the little attention his campaign has received.
Feds give two immigrant children in Connecticut a year’s reprieve
Two immigrant children who were reunited with their parents in Connecticut after being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border have been granted temporary legal immigration status.



