Submitted by Paul Kretschmann, Greenwich
Connecticut residents are decent people. We respect our neighbors who live and work and abide by the law, and we hold our elected officials accountable when national forces interfere with our state. You may be aware that ICE has been stepping up its terror tactics in several of our towns, including Stamford, rounding up immigrants who are mostly law-abiding people who work diligently to help our communities thrive. They are not “the worst of the worst” as Donald Trump promised to target when he ran again in 2024.
That is why I am appalled that two of our elected officials, Ryan Fazio and Tina Courpas, have repeatedly turned against our very own neighbors and have voted against several pieces of legislation aimed to place reasonable restrictions on anti-immigrant terror tactics and to aid law enforcement by encouraging trust:
1. HB 7259 which expanded the commonly known Trust Act. This legislation thankfully passed; had it not been enacted our local law enforcement could have been forced to aid and abet federal immigration authorities. This would not only divert resources from local law enforcement but also discourage immigrants from helping police. The Trust Act is intended to ensure that an undocumented immigrant will feel safe reporting crime to police without fearing being handed over to ICE. Fazio is against this. He even introduced a proposed bill to repeal the Trust Act as it currently stands.
2. HB 7066 which required every public school to designate an administrator to manage interactions with ICE while enforcing state protocols including requiring ICE to provide personal identification and legal judicial warrants. Thankfully this, too, passed.
3. SB 397 which established protection in areas such as houses of worship, hospitals and schools, restricted the use of face masks, expanded the Inspector General’s authority over federal use of deadly force, and importantly restricted the sharing of automated license-plate user data. Fortunately, this too, was signed into law.
The Democratic Party in our state has provided a firewall against many of the menacing and dangerous tactics of ICE. While I believe in the enforcement of immigration laws, I do not support the often-goonish tactics of ICE, and I do not support public officials that are wedded to such national policies and practices of MAGA and Donald Trump. Courpas and Fazio have been my representatives in Hartford … yet they have not represented my values nor those of most of my neighbors.
I am asking my neighbors to vote this November. For the town of Greenwich, please join me in voting for Jill Oberlander for State Senator, replacing Ryan Fazio, and to elect Amiel Goldberg to the State Assembly for the 149th District, replacing Tina Courpas. And for Greenwich voters in other districts, please re-elect Steve Meskers (150th) and Hector Arzeno (151st). They will proudly represent Greenwich and Stamford to support a balance of strong, but legal and humane immigration enforcement.
Paul Kretschmann
Greenwich
Editor’s note: Letters to the editor about candidates in the Nov 3, 2026 election, we will accept letters for consideration from Oct 1 to the 27. The deadline is a week before the election: Oct 27 at 12:00 noon. There is typically a backlog of letters received right up to the deadline, so we will continue to publish some of those letters after the deadline.