Aracely Morales, a 43-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, arrived in Connecticut 21 years ago. She works harvesting broccoli and cabbage in a town near Hartford. She said they work in all conditions, including rain and cold.
“The majority of us are here out of great necessity,” she told The Connecticut Mirror in Spanish.
Morales is a member of the advocacy organization Make the Road Connecticut, one of a number of organizations that gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday in advance of a public hearing where lawmakers were to consider two proposals on how Connecticut should collaborate with federal immigration enforcement officials.
Morales told CT Mirror that although she doesn’t have documentation, she’s not scared by the recent federal crackdowns on unauthorized migrants in the country.
“The truth is, I’m not afraid, because we came here to work. We didn’t come here to steal from this country,” said Morales, who sat with her 9-month-old son, one of her six children, all born in the United States.
She said that although she at times struggles to pay her own bills — particularly when it’s not harvest season — she sends what money she can from the U.S. to help her family.
“My goal is to help my family get ahead, to send them a little — perhaps not enough — money, but as much as I can,” she said. “I’m proud to be here in the U.S., for the well-being of my family. When someone comes as an immigrant, they risk their lives to come here. It’s not easy.”
The current law dictating Connecticut’s immigration enforcement policy, known as the Trust Act, prohibits local and state law enforcement from arresting someone solely on the basis of a detainer — a request from ICE that police hold a person for up to 48 hours so federal agents can pick them up.
There are a few exceptions. Local law enforcement and corrections officials in Connecticut may comply with a federal detainer request if ICE presents a judicial warrant, if the person is on a terrorist watch list or if the person in their custody has been convicted or pleaded guilty to a class A or B felony — crimes like murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery and first-degree manslaughter.
The Republicans’ bill would expand those exceptions to include class C felonies and domestic violence crimes. Class C felonies include second-degree manslaughter — including as the result of drunk driving — second-degree sexual assault, enticing a minor and assault of a public safety or health worker. And it would allow law enforcement to detain immigrants who were charged with one of those crimes “with probable cause,” rather than requiring a conviction.
By contrast, the bill supported by Democrats would prohibit public agencies from sharing information about a person’s home address, workplace, school or “the date, time or location of a person’s hearings, proceedings or appointments with the public agency.”
One of the primary agencies people expressed concern about was the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
Arlene Angel Trejo, an immigrant who lives in Connecticut, told reporters at a press conference that her family recently had an alarming experience with the DMV. Her husband, while trying to renew his license, was rejected through the state’s online system. When he was finally able to get an appointment with the agency, they asked for a copy of his green card and his Social Security card.
“This was really strange to us since he had gotten his license renewed before and they had never asked for those documents. After waiting a half an hour, they told him that his green card was not accepted into the system, and that they had to send the information to [ICE] … and that they could not give him the license until [ICE] went through the necessary procedure,” she said.
After a few days, they were told the renewal was accepted, which Trejo said was a “great relief.” But they are still waiting for the new license to arrive in the mail.
“This has caused concern in the family and about what is happening in the new administration. If he loses his license, it affects the whole family, since he goes very far to work, and since he is the only one supporting me and my children,” she said.
Shaun Formica, a spokesperson for the DMV, said the incident was based on a “miscommunication” and did not reflect DMV policy. She said the agency has resolved Trejo’s husband’s case.
The Democrats’ bill would also require state and town agencies to report any requests for information that they’ve received from federal immigration officials to the state Office of Policy and Management.
More than 500 people submitted written testimony on the two bills, and nearly 200 signed up to testify during the public hearing. Nearly all those who testified in person were in favor of restricting cooperation with ICE in the state.
People testifying in favor of further restricting information sent to ICE said they felt it would undermine public safety if immigrants were afraid to work with local police. Teachers recounted having students who were afraid to come to school. Attorneys and advocates said domestic violence victims feared going to the police.
Jessica Hickey, a Simsbury resident and teacher, said she’d taken attendance over the last few weeks and noticed that some of her students, many of whom had perfect attendance, were missing.
“While at first the suspicion was that they had succumbed to all the winter illnesses, the truth was they were not sick. They and their families were in fear of going to school,” she wrote. “That fear is all-encompassing for a number of my students and their families. What if ICE were to show up at the school? Could they be taken?”
Attorney Paul Garlinghouse said he’d worked with victims of domestic violence who were afraid to apply for restraining orders against their partners, since information about the victim and their case would become publicly available.
“It’s already very hard for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, all these things, to report and to come into court. The extra threat that some ICE — I don’t want to say ‘goons,’ but it comes into my head — are going to be skulking out there in the parking lot ready to surround you at the minute you walk out of court, that’s a chilling effect and that harms people,” he told lawmakers.
Many who submitted written testimony spoke about tenets of their faith that told them to “welcome the stranger” or said their grandparents, parents or they themselves were immigrants to the U.S.
Multiple people also pointed to a recent case involving a Polish man who was stopped in front of the courthouse in New Britain and taken into custody. The man’s lawyer, Adrian Baron, who testified in the hearing, said his client was in the process of adjusting his tourist visa and that he had not been convicted of any crime.
“His crime seems to be more of a civil infraction, where his visa expired … I really don’t see why they would need armed [Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] agents. These are the guys that are supposed to be going after gun runners,” said Baron, adding that he’d heard of this happening at multiple other courthouses in the state.
State Rep. Matt Blumenthal, D-Stamford, said during the press conference that strengthening the Trust Act was necessary so that migrants could send their children to school, operate their businesses and work with the local police in a time when the federal government’s policy on immigration was “fundamentally cruel and stupid.”
“ They can only do that if they understand that our Trust Act will be enforced, and that they can trust in the state workers, state agencies, and others that they need to participate in productive labor society,” Blumenthal said.
In contrast, people who spoke in favor of increasing state collaboration with ICE said they feared lax rules would allow some of the worst criminals to go free. Some said unauthorized migrants were putting undue costs on school districts and towns, and others said taxpayer dollars shouldn’t go toward services for these migrants.
“Offering refuge to illegal immigrants is not only detrimental to the good of the citizens and legal immigrants but serves as an inducement to them to come here, and places an undue drain on public resources,” wrote resident Craig Worley. “I strenuously object to any of my tax dollars being used to provide services to illegal immigrants. Those who wish to do so are welcome to donate to any number of charities that can serve that purpose, but they are not welcome to spend my hard-earned tax dollars for that purpose.”
Republicans said a failure to collaborate with ICE would risk public safety by allowing people who committed crimes to go free. They also questioned whether the fears that migrants and advocates were expressing were founded and asked for data and evidence that ICE was, in fact, arresting domestic violence victims or people going to hospitals or state agencies.
State Rep. Patrick Callahan, R-New Fairfield, who worked as a police officer in Fairfield County, said the local police worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement because they sometimes received judicial warrants requiring them to hand over people who had committed serious crimes. He said the Trust Act made communities less safe, because ICE now had to arrest people in an “uncontrolled setting” like a parking lot, rather than a police department.
He recounted an incident where ICE was attempting to arrest a man who ran into the street to avoid the agents and was struck by a car.
State Rep. Craig Fishbein, R-Wallingford, said that under the constitution, federal law was superior to state law, and he said he didn’t see how he could support the bill as a legislator. He also said that crossing into the United States without proper documentation was a crime, punishable by fine or prison sentence.
In response to concerns that community members were fearful of immigration enforcement actions, Fishbein said the goal, rather than to reduce people’s fear, should be to ensure that people come to the U.S. lawfully.
“The illegal immigrant, the person who is here not following the process … they, too, should be legitimately fearful. The goal from my perspective should not be, ‘Well, we’re just going to ignore this federal law,’” said Fishbein.
State Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, said that while he did not think local law enforcement should be doing ICE’s job, people should fear the consequences of committing a crime.
But Juan Fonseca Tapia, campaign manager for the TRUST Act Now campaign, which represents a coalition of advocacy groups, said he was talking about a different kind of fear.
“The fear is not about ‘I don’t want to be afraid of committing crime.’ The fear is about the fact that ‘I am afraid of going to work and not being able to see my children again,’” he said.
Advocates have asked for additions to the Democrats’ bill, including provisions preventing ICE from making arrests at courthouses, establishing an oversight committee and mechanism for people to sue if the Trust Act is violated, and barring the National Guard from taking part in immigration enforcement.