Maya McFadden photo
Rev. Scott Marks: “Imagine the workers who make this city work, who are undocumented, the nervousness that they may have. We want to fight to make sure that this city remains safe.”
Update: As of Monday, DHS appears to have taken down the online “sanctuary jurisdictions” list entirely. See below for Friday’s original article in full.
New Haven is now officially on the Trump administration’s list — of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that the federal government has newly called out by name for “deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws” and thereby “endangering American communities.”
At a Friday press conference at City Hall, Mayor Justin Elicker, Police Chief Karl Jacobson, Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow, local labor leader Scott Marks, and immigrant rights activist Ambar Santiago-Rojas, among others, pushed back on that characterization — even as they embraced New Haven’s distinction as a “welcoming city” for all.
“This is something we expected,” Elicker said, “and we’re proud of it.”
Friday’s press conference took place one day after the federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” that “undermine the rule of law and endanger the lives of Americans and Law Enforcement.”
The list includes six Connecticut municipalities, including New Haven, East Haven, Hamden, Hartford, New London, and Windham. It also claims that Connecticut “self-identifies” as a “State Sanctuary Jurisdiction.” (In a separate press release Friday, Gov. Ned Lamont said that Connecticut is not a “sanctuary” in “any legal or practical sense,” but instead is a state that “upholds the Constitution, respects the rule of law, and prioritizes the safety and well-being of our communities.”)
The list issued by DHS follows Trump’s Executive Order 14287: Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens, from April 28. The list calls on named jurisdictions, like New Haven, to “immediately review and revise their policies to align with Federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens, not dangerous illegal aliens.”
It also comes as New Haven, San Francisco, and other mostly West Coast cities are suing the Trump administration in federal court to prevent the president from withholding funds from municipalities just because they limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
At Friday’s presser, Elicker rejected the Trump administration’s characterization of New Haven and other cities as “endangering American communities,” and said that Trump is lying to the American people.
Standing alongside Police Chief Jacobson, Elicker said New Haven is not obstructing justice or protecting dangerous, violent criminals. Instead, he said, public safety is the city’s top priority.
Jacobson added that the police department has had “welcoming” city policies and procedures since 2007. He said it is not New Haven police’s job to ask about immigration status, deport, or round up people. Rather, it’s the department’s goal to build trust with all residents regardless of their immigration status to encourage residents to speak up and come forward if they are the victim of a crime.
“We have these policies in place so the victims of crime feel comfortable talking to the police,” he said. “That’s a keystone of policing the proper way.”
He concluded that if federal officers need assistance with a legal warrant signed by a judge, the department would assist, but this hasn’t happened yet since Trump returned to office.
During brief remarks Friday, Furlow explained that the job of municipal leaders is to prioritize public safety, fairness, and the constitutional rights of all residents.
Local leaders should not and will not be forced to implement federal immigration policy, Elicker and Furlow agreed. Furlow went on to say the federal administration cannot command local officials to do the federal government’s job. “This is not about ignoring the law,” he said.
“The Trump administration is trying to extort local communities to implement his cruel agenda to persecute good and hard-working people,” Elicker added.
Referencing a federal judge’s recent ruling that the Trump administration can’t unilaterally withhold funding from “sanctuary jurisdictions,” Elicker concluded, “We beat the Trump administration once, and we will beat them again.”
Click here to watch the full press conference.
Police Chief Jacobson: “We will not be intimidated as a city into abandoning the principles that our city has been founded upon and stand on.”
At Friday's presser.