As a nonpartisan, pro-democracy organization, the League is deeply alarmed by the ongoing ICE detentions, which too often fly in the face of due process and other fundamental rights. So earlier this month, League of Women Voters of Connecticut joined 91 other Connecticut organizations committed to immigrant rights, civil rights, human rights, gender rights, workers rights, and racial justice to express urgency and demand that Governor Lamont and Legislative Leadership take action to protect our immigrant communities during the upcoming special session.
The letter highlighted ICE’s recent tactics and treatment of immigrants in Connecticut that “violate the dignity, safety, and basic rights of our neighbors” and included a call to action, laying out 4 legislative priorities:
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Protect the Personal Information of our immigrant community and all CT residents.
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Protect Immigrants at State Courthouses.
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Preserve HUSKY Medicaid for undocumented children and pregnant individuals.
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Make our Communities Safer by Prohibiting the Use of State and Local Resources to Assist Immigration Enforcement, specifically by protecting Connecticut from Militarized Immigration Enforcement and Preventing Local Law Enforcement from Assisting ICE.
Click Read More below to acces the entire letter.
Opportunity to take action: The HUSKY 4 Immigrants Coalition and partners like LWVCT are mobilizing calls to the Governor and leadership, with a goal of 300 calls a week. Find more information here.
Background context:
ICE abducted a Meriden high school student at a routine court hearing just one week before his graduation, another New Haven high school senior was seized at his summer job, ICE ripped a mother from her car, leaving her teenage daughter behind; in Southington, ICE is abducting workers from job sites; in Danbury, masked ICE agents kidnapped over 15 individuals in broad daylight without due process in a single day; in Stamford, ICE agents are kicking in doors inside our courthouses to drag community members out; in Danbury, ICE is deploying dozens of agents in military gear to threaten and intimidate the community outside our courthouse; and in Norwalk, ICE agents are attacking and tasing community members in broad daylight. In Hartford, a community leader and father of two was seized during a routine immigration check-in.
