Advocates for undocumented immigrants rallied outside a state district court in Stamford on Thursday.
They were protesting an increase in ICE arrests of immigrants at the courthouse and want immediate changes to state policy.
“This person was being taken against his will by a masked agent, who moved fast, almost mechanically, displaying no sign of human emotion, no regrets, no rage towards us volunteers yelling at them,” said Stamford resident Marcella Branca, a member of the group Stamford Norwalk United with Immigrants, who've been monitoring ICE activity at the courthouse.
“No words, just cold unjustified violence,” she said, describing a disturbing arrest in the court parking garage that she witnessed on August 11th.
“Our state courthouses are a place of justice; they are not a hunting ground,” said state Representative Matt Blumenthal of Stamford, a lawyer who practices at the courthouse, and was there to observe the protest.
Connecticut’s Trust Act limits state cooperation with federal immigration authorities, so the state chief justice could limit such activity at courthouses, he said.
“My understanding is that he could make a decision to implement a policy but failing that I think we have to look into doing it ourselves, or whether the governor can do so as well,” said Blumenthal, who is co-chair of the Government Administration and Elections.
A bill that would have revised the state’s Trust Act to allow individuals to sue towns and cities that cooperate with federal immigration authorities, passed along party lines in the Senate this year, but it did not get the approval of Governor Ned Lamont.
Advocates want him to change his mind.
