DAILY NEWS CLIP: January 28, 2025

Reports of ICE raids in CT immigrant neighborhoods not confirmed to be part of Trump crackdown


New Haven Register – Monday, January 27, 2025
By Crystal Elescano, Mark Zaretsky

Reports of immigration enforcement have surfaced around Connecticut, although it remains unclear if the actions are part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown that began over the weekend.

Social media videos and posts from communities across Connecticut documented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sightings in recent days, raising concerns among residents. ICE arrested more than 950 people on Sunday in raids in Chicago, Newark and Miami, reports indicated.

Although reports of ICE sightings have increased in the state, it remains unclear how many of these reports are confirmed or whether any detentions have occurred. Connecticut officials have sought to reassure immigrants that their rights will be protected.

The reported ICE activity has been concentrated in areas with predominantly Puerto Rican populations, according to the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus.

“There were reports that ICE had a presence in Bridgeport, Lower Fairfield County, Willimantic and on Park Street in Hartford, where the population is predominantly Puerto Rican. Similarly in Newark, New Jersey ICE detained a Puerto Rican Military Veteran in a raid at a seafood store,” the caucus’s statement said. Reports have surfaced about ICE activity in East Hartford also.

Willimantic police late Monday confirmed ICE officers were working in the their community but said the police were not connected to the activity and provided no additional details.

The caucus expressed alarm, stating that ICE appears to be targeting Spanish-speaking and brown communities and may also be detaining American citizens based on biased judgments related to language or skin tone.

“This country in my childhood was affectionately seen as a melting pot of culture and a beacon of opportunity for all. As a young man I see that we are straying too far from that notion. ICE is stepping out of bounds, especially when it comes to the detention of our own citizens,” said BPRC Chair Antonio Felipe. “Speaking another language or having a different complexion has nothing to do with a level of threat or patriotic values. These actions say much more about the aggressors at Immigrations and Customs Enforcement than they do about our communities.”

The caucus said that ICE should focus its efforts on undocumented immigrants involved in criminal activities who pose a genuine threat to public safety, stating that such descriptions do not reflect the majority of the immigrant population.

State Rep. Geraldo Reyes of Waterbury said that while he has not received any reports of ICE activity in his city, he has heard of sightings in Bridgeport, New Haven, Meriden and Hamden. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said Monday he is not aware of confirmed recent reports of ICE activity in the city.

“I’ve spoken with a couple people from law enforcement, and they said that ICE isn’t going to be working with the police department, so they probably won’t know right away,” Reyes said.

In Connecticut, the Trust Act, passed in 2013, regulates how state and local law enforcement interact with ICE. The law prohibits state and local officers, including probation officers, from arresting, transporting, or detaining individuals on behalf of ICE. However, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, the Trust Act does not prevent ICE from operating or maintaining a presence in the state.

“We know that elected officials and community leaders have been trying to confirm reports, but ACLU have not heard of any confirmed reports this week,” a spokesperson from ACLU said. “That does not mean that ICE is not functioning in Connecticut. It does not mean there are more of less ICE agents since January 20.”

The spokesperson stated the importance of knowing how to interact with ICE, creating a family preparedness plan, and practicing potential scenarios to ensure readiness.

Reports of ICE raids comes as the New Haven-based IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services) refugee resettlement agency is scrambling to replace lost funds after the Trump administration cancelled up to $4 million in funding for a program that would help resettle immigrant families who had been scheduled to arrive via a legal immigration program, its director said Monday.

The refugees coming from places like Afghanistan. Ukraine and Latin America, including Cuba and Venezuela — “places of global crises” — had already been vetted through the U.S. Department of State’s “Welcome Corps” program, said IRIS Executive Director Maggie Mitchell Salem.

“You don’t just become a refugee because somebody says you’re a refugee,” Salem said. “There are Afghans that worked with U.S. forces who come to this country through that program, including VISA holders who weren’t supported to have been affected, she said.

The Welcome Corps program was created in 2023, with private American citizens covering the costs through a sponsorship program, Salem said.

The program was halted, however, as a result of a presidential executive order suspending U.S. refugee resettlement which Trump issued earlier last week.

“That program ended at 5 p.m. Friday and we laid off that team at 6 p.m. Friday,” she said.
Prior to this, “Our federal funding has increased significantly during the last four years,” Salem said. The first Trump administration also had reduced IRIS’ funding significantly, Salem said.

IRIS continues to receive other federal funding that passes through the state, she said, although “we have to fund raise” to cover other portions of the budget, Salem said. It issued an “emergency appeal” late last week after learning of the cuts, with a website people who want to help can go to to donate. https://irisct.org/donate/

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