Connecticut lawmakers are considering changes to the state’s Trust Act, which, in most cases, prevents local police from sharing information with immigration officials.
The Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to send the third iteration of the law to the House on Tuesday.
H.B. 7212 would expand the Trust Act to forbid prosecutors, certain public agencies, and municipal departments from collaborating with federal immigration officers. It would also keep state grant recipients — like Avelo Airlines — from using grant money to engage in immigration activities.
Representative Steve Stafstrom (D-Bridgeport) was one of 29 Democrats who voted in support.
“This legislature, twice before, has worked to pass protections into our laws to make sure that state employees and our law enforcement are focused on investigating and prosecuting crimes that are committed in the state of Connecticut by folks in the state of Connecticut, and that our resources are not being diverted to essentially work to solve a broken federal immigration system,” Stafstrom said.
The bill would also look into how the state could force municipalities into compliance and stop immigration officials from confronting undocumented people at courthouses.
The 12 Republicans on the committee all voted no, saying the law makes it harder for law enforcement to work across departments to stop crime.
“Laws like this make the people of this state a lot less safe,” Rep. Doug Dubitsky (R-Brooklyn) said. “They endanger every single one of us by having known dangerous criminals, terrorists walking around our streets and having the Feds not know where they are, even when our law enforcement knows exactly where they are.”
The vote was celebrated by New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker (D), whose city goes further than current Trust Act laws. New Haven is one of four sanctuary cities in Connecticut — local law prevents city employees from asking about immigration status, among other protections.
“Our residents want to live with the peace of mind that when they engage with local and state agencies to report a crime or to access other critical services, they don’t have to worry about their information being shared with ICE,” Elicker said.
