Several lawyers will represent the city of New Haven for free against a lawsuit from the Trump administration over immigration policy.
The Trump administration sued New Haven earlier this month, saying a 2020 welcoming city executive order signed by Mayor Justin Elicker was preventing them from carrying out immigration enforcement operations. The state of Connecticut, Governor Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, and Elicker were all also named in the lawsuit.
“For years, Connecticut communities have paid the price of these misguided sanctuary policies,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said when the suit was filed. “This lawsuit seeks to end such open defiance of federal law.”
The 2020 order keeps city employees from working with ICE unless they have a court order.
“We are confident that our executive order is compliant with all local, federal and state laws,” Elicker said. “Our executive order does not prevent federal authorities from enforcing immigration law. Rather, it makes clear that we do not do the job of the federal government.”
The city’s legal team will be led by former federal prosecutor Chris Mattei. He represented the families of Sandy Hook victims in their case against Alex Jones. Former Yale Law School dean Herold Koh is also on the team.
Mattei said he’s confident the order is legal.
“One of the reasons it's so important is because the federal government, in rolling out immigration policies over the past year or so, has proven itself to be lawless, and so the city, of course, is under no obligation to serve up its residents to a federal government that has pursued people without due process and in a way that violates the Constitution,” Mattei said.
Elicker said he believes New Haven was targeted in the lawsuit because he and other city officials have been vocally opposed to the Trump administration's policy. His city is not the only one with similar welcoming policies.
The city, in conjunction with the state, has requested a 60-day extension to respond to the allegations.
