Connecticut organizations came together for a day of action on Oct. 11 to help immigrant families.
The “Families Belong Together Day of Action” kicks off a community engagement campaign to inform people in Danbury about their rights as arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement increase in the city and statewide. Compared with last year, ICE arrests in Connecticut have doubled under the Trump administration.
Juan Fonseca Tapia, co-founder and organizer of Danbury United for Immigrants, described one example of the local effects – a local grocery store that’s losing business because of ICE.
“People are afraid of going to the store, especially in that area,” he said, “because in the vicinity of the courthouse is where we have seen most of the kidnappings that have happened.”
He said the Day of Action includes building partnerships to develop a neighborhood-based safety network and one-on-one outreach, sharing immigrants’ rights resources – such as the Danbury United for Immigrants’ Helpline, where people can report ICE activity and connect with resources to help get a family member out of ICE detention.
The event began at 9 a.m. at Kennedy Park in Danbury.
Hundreds of organizations submitted letters to state lawmakers demanding that immigration protections be addressed during a special General Assembly session. In the regular session, lawmakers made some changes to the state’s immigration law known as the Trust Act, but Tapia said other issues are coming up that must be addressed.
“A lot of people are getting stopped for minor traffic infractions, and now people have to go to court for these minor infractions,” he said. “And when they are leaving court or inside of the courthouse, which we have witnessed in Danbury and in Stamford, they are being taken.”
He added that the state could return to virtual court hearings to minimize a person’s risk of deportation. As in many states, Connecticut has held remote hearings, so this is feasible, Tapia said. The state has implemented laws forbidding ICE agents from wearing masks, but he noted this doesn’t reduce the number of arrests that occur.
CT groups host first ‘Families Belong Together’ Day of Action was first published by the Public News Service and is republished with permission. Minor edits have been made to the original article as the event has passed.
Featured Photo: An Immigration Research Initiative report finds Immigration and Customs Enforcement is under pressure to meet new quotas established by the second Trump Administration, though they haven’t achieved them yet. (Adobe Stock)