Diana Stricker Photo
Immigration took stage center in Branford and New Haven this past week after White House press secretary Sean Spicer criticized Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, saying Connecticut’s governor “chooses not to follow the duly-passed laws of this nation.”
The governor had issued a statement last week encouraging school and police officials throughout the state to have a plan in place in case the feds want their cooperation with deportation of illegal immigrants. It turns out each chief had one in place before Malloy’s directive arrived.
Not surprisingly, immigration was one of the top issues at a town hall meeting Saturday where Democratic U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal received thunderous applause from more than 700 people who gathered at Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven.
Blumenthal Remembers
Blumenthal began the town meeting with a rally cry.
“We live in a really unusual time. … We are the generation whose finest hour will be to preserve our democracy. It’s that simple and that serious. Never before in our history has there been so much conflict and chaos in the White House or in the federal government. Never before have there been such deep conflicts of interests. Never before have American values been so threatened. Never before has our power been so recklessly and impulsively used around the world. So we are in the fight of our lives. I am in the fight of my life because I am fighting for your lives,” Blumenthal said. “I need your help and your support so I can fight tooth and nail, and use every tool that’s available to me.”
Blumenthal also shared the story of his father, who was a Jewish refugee.
“My dad came to this country in 1935. He came to here to escape persecution in Germany… he had not much more than the shirt on his back. And this great country, by the way, it IS a great country, gave him a chance to succeed. And I thought when Donald Trump made his announcement of his ban on people coming to this country from Muslim majority nations… when I saw his unconstitutional executive order, I thought how sad and ashamed my Dad would be today.”
Blumenthal addressed a number of issues in the two-hour meeting.
Malloy Takes On ICE
Malloy said in his statement sent to state and local police officials last week that the state and local police “may decide whether, and to what extent, they assist ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ) officials. However, said the governor, “we encourage all of Connecticut’s law enforcement agencies not to participate in this program,” specifically the Trump administration’s push to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Malloy also set down specific procedures for schools in the event that ICE agents appear at local schools, noting that student’s privacy is protected under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
It turns out that Branford’s schools superintendent and Branford’s police chief had plans in place regarding the town’s immigrants well before Malloy asked them to do so should ICE officials come knocking on their doors.
Hamlet Comments
School enrollment is “tied to residency,” School Superintendent Hamlet Hernandez said in an interview, “not to the immigration department… We don’t ask for their status. It’s illegal.”
At a Board of Education meeting last week Hernandez was quick to address the issue.
Marcia Chambers Photo
“We ensure that all students are safe… that the schools are safe,” Hernandez. “Our intention is not to allow any student to be confronted about whether they should be in school.”
Branford does have a diverse population of students in its school district, students who come from many different countries.
Hernandez said the schools will follow procedures that they’ve been doing already, which is sending people to the principal’s office and then to the superintendent’s office. Malloy said to confirm that the ICE agent has a judicial warrant. He also recommended consulting with the school district’s attorneys.
Police Chief Points to Moral Compass
Marcia Chambers Photo
In December, Police Chief Kevin Halloran (standing) and Youth Officer Dave Atkinson were invited to address about 80 residents the Willoughby –Wallace library in Stony Creek.
Democratic RTM member Lynda Mollow said the group came together in the aftermath of the Trump election because they were concerned “about immigration, reproductive rights, issues facing LGBTQ community, discrimination and harassment. “We want ways to learn how to support each other,” she said. Democratic State Rep. Sean Scanlon, who represents Stony Creek, also spoke about specific plans.
Halloran said the scenario of rounding up illegal immigrants is something he doesn’t see occurring in Branford, noting “…we don’t have enemies, we have citizens.”
“I think if they asked me to do it I would follow my moral compass. We’ve worked too long and too hard to build trust with the community….While I’m Chief, I don’t think you have to worry about round-ups.”
He said there are times when the police chief has to stand up and say, “This is sacred land. We are not soldiers. Call the National Guard, not the police. That is my position on it.’ And, the chief added, “We are not going out looking for them, either.”
The audience applauded.
On Jan.30, the International Association of Chiefs of Police released a statement to oppose “any initiative that would mandate state or local law enforcement involvement in the execution of federal immigration law,” adding that “their involvement in immigration law should be determined at a local level.”
Halloran could not be reached this morning for further comment.
Spicer Speaks
Press secretary Sean Spicer addressed Malloy’s comments by saying, “… it’s obviously concerning… Whether you’re a governor or mayor or the president, laws are passed in this country and we expect people and our lawmakers and our law enforcement agencies to follow and adhere to the laws as passed by the appropriate level of government.”
Through his director of communication Kelly Donnelly, Malloy suggested that the administration would benefit from “a Civics 101 refresher.”
“Not only does the U.S. Constitution provide explicit protections for both individual rights, but it also provides clear guidance on the rights of states — specifically in the Tenth Amendment.”
Malloy’s announcement was in direct contrast to Donald Trump’s controversial policies on undocumented immigrants, which state that immigrants who are in this country for two years or less are subject to deportation, and those who live anywhere in the country (unlike the previous 100-mile limit) are also subject to immediate deportation.
The Tenth Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights. The text reads: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Blumenthal on Illegal Immigrants
At the Blumenthal gathering at the Wilbur Cross school, people from across the state asked questions on various topics, including a Branford man who carried a support Trump sign. “Why are we doing a sanctuary state? asked William Woermer. “We should deport illegal aliens, not legal, legal is different.” Woermer then mentioned the illegal immigrant who fled Bridgeport with his young daughter last week after allegedly killing the child’s mother.
Blumenthal quickly stated that anyone who commits murder should be apprehended and prosecuted.
However, he said that undocumented people who do not commit crimes should not be rounded up and deported.
“What we should focus on is prioritizing what the real problems are, not engaging in mass detention, and mass arrest, building hugely expensive new prisons to detain people, and walls that cost close to $30 million dollars,” Blumenthal said. “We ought to focus on comprehensive immigration reform. Eleven million people now living in the shadows work hard, they pay taxes, they raise families….Give them a path to citizenship.”
Last month Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy introduced a bill to block President Trump’s executive order on banning refugees and immigrants from “certain Muslin majority nations in the Middle East.” His bill would withhold any funding to enforce the executive order and declares it illegal based on the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which banned discrimination against immigrants on the basis of national origin.
Murphy has held a number of meetings across Connecticut on immigration and other issues in recent weeks. He also said the ban based on religion violates the U.S. Constitution and “fuels ISIS recruitment propaganda, putting our nation at risk.”
Marcia Chambers contributed reporting for this story.
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