Since President Trump’s Jan 20 executive order, “Protecting the American People against Invasion,” debates have flared up across Connecticut about how far state and local police should go to assist US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Debate has mostly focused on the Trust Act, which passed in Connecticut in 2013 and was strengthened in 2019.
It sets conditions for state and local law enforcement for voluntarily cooperating with ICE officials who seek to detain and deport undocumented immigrants. The idea was to achieve a balance between helping ICE agents in the interests of public safety on one hand and maintaining good relationships between state and local police and residents on the other.
The 2019 legislation:
- Prohibits law enforcement from detaining someone solely on the basis of a Civil Immigration Detainer, which is an administrative request, unless it is accompanied by a judicial warrant, or if the person is guilty of the most serious felonies or is on the terrorist watch list
- Limits information sharing with ICE
- Requires law enforcement to inform individuals when ICE has requested their detention
- Includes “School Police and Security Department” and adds “bail commissioners” and “probation officers” under the definition of law enforcement for purposes of disclosing information to ICE
Greenwich Public Schools
On Friday, Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones’ email to public school families included information about how the district is planning for the possibility of ICE agents coming to public schools for undocumented children.
“We are very much aware of the nation-wide concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its response to arriving at public schools,” she wrote.
“Previously, schools were off-limits, but that language was rescinded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week. I have shared with your school’s administration team a protocol if this occurs at GPS that includes calling the Office of the Superintendent immediately and asking them to have the individuals wait outside the building. We would immediately contact the district’s attorney before taking any action in response to a request or visit from an ICE agent based on the law.”
Jones said the school district does not collect immigration status information on public school students.
“By federal law, we must educate any child who resides in our district and has provided proof of residency in Greenwich,” she added. “Greenwich Public Schools is here to support all students and families. Our counselors, social workers, and other mental health support are available to help your children.”
A day earlier, at the Riverside Association’s annual meeting where Police Chief Heavey and a panel that included Sergeant Ryan Carino, SRO Chris Wallace, State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-36) and State Rep Hector Arzeno (D-151) talked about safety in general, a resident’s question touched on the topic of immigration when she asked if Greenwich Police encountered children being trafficked.
“With all these open border crossings of migrants, there are 300,000 that have crossed the border and nobody knows where they are, and supposedly they are being trafficked. If it’s really true, has any of that come to Greenwich?” she asked.
Chief Heavey said cases of trafficked children were very rare, and were investigated by detectives in the special victims section.
“I will mention because it is a question on a lot of people’s minds, that we are mandated by the Trust Act, which is a state statute on how we handle undocumented non-residents,” Heavey said. “We don’t investigate or ask about someone’s immigration status. If they are arrested, and we run them through the computer and if they are wanted by another agency, including the federal agencies, we will notify them and they can make the decision as to whether or not they are going to come and make an arrest.”
Also, he said, if the person is a victim of a crime or reporting a crime, police do not ask their immigration status.
Proposed Bill No 684: “An Act Repealing the Trust Act”
State Senator Ryan Fazio (R-36) recently introduced proposed bill No 684, “An Act Repealing the Trust Act” for the 2025 session. The legislation has been referred to the Judiciary committee.
“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: 1 That section 54-192h of the general statutes be repealed.”
Statement of Purpose: To repeal the Trust Act in order to free up resources and services to legal residents of this state.
Meanwhile, last week, Governor Ned Lamont said his message to undocumented immigrants in the state was, “You’re welcome here.”
“My advice is, send your kids to school. My advice is, keep going to church,” Lamont said. “We don’t collect the immigration status of people who are going to church or kids who are at school. Our cops are busy trying to keep the streets safe, they’re not asking the immigration status of somebody who’s caught jaywalking or speeding.”
Here in Greenwich State Rep Steve Meskers (D-150) said he thought the idea of involving the Greenwich Police force in pursuing hard-working residents of the state who have committed no crime save for the fact that they are undocumented, seemed both heartless and cruel.
“Our population in the United States is made up of 20% immigrants, and more than 25% of that group is undocumented,” he said. “Undocumented workers make up 25% of all farm workers in the US essentially they feed us. 17% of all US construction workers are undocumented they help house us. 12% of people in food prep and food service are undocumented.”
“The logical solution is to provide the people currently in our country with working papers and provide them with a five or 10 year path to citizenship provided that they maintain a clean record,” he added.
“Do we want to improve public safety by arresting people who work in restaurants, construction, health care and agriculture or as aides to our loved ones?” he asked. “It is not a position I can wrap my head around.”
Senator Fazio clarified his intentions with bill 684 to repeal the 2019 Trust Act.
“As our Senator I have an obligation to uphold the law and protect the safety of our community. People in our community want balanced and bipartisan solutions to complicated problems. Unfortunately, ‘Trust Act,’ a 2019 Connecticut law, is one of the most one-sided sanctuary immigration policies in the country. Opposition to the law was bipartisan with every Republican and several Democrats voting against it in the legislature. It disallows our local police from doing their job and cooperating with federal authorities when encountering illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes within our state, including all misdemeanors and most felonies.”
“There are two Trust Acts in our state, one from 2013 and one from 2019. My proposal is to repeal parts of the more radical version in 2019,” Fazio continued. “The 2019 Trust Act ties the hands of our local police from protecting us. It provides harbor to people who have taken advantage of our state and country and undermined public safety. It protects people who have committed assault, public indecency, DUI, and other crimes from federal authorities. It protects people with known gang associations, which is especially relevant in Stamford where two illegal immigrants who are members of the Tren De Aragua gang robbed and murdered a 59-year-old man a few months ago.”
Fazio emphasized the fact that the Trust Act was a law that every Republican and several Democrats voted against.
“That’s always a good test for me of reasonableness,” he said.
“My bill’s aim is to reverse course and find a bipartisan solution and allow our police to detain and leverage federal authorities to protect our community from serious criminals in our country illegally. It’s not about knocking on every door, schools, or anything like that. It’s about protecting the public from people who have committed crimes. I am confident that that is an approach that the vast majority of immigrants and native-born citizens alike agree with.”
Asked to clarify, Senator Fazio said people who have committed crimes referred both to people arrested or convicted of certain crimes.
Editor’s note: There are multiple other bills with the same name submitted for this legislative session.