Overview
- Federal agents carried out detentions across Danbury and other Fairfield County communities beginning Monday, with local activists reporting roughly 50 people taken and many families disrupted.
- Gov. Ned Lamont, Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves and other state and local officials held a Wednesday news conference and released hotlines and legal guidance for residents facing detentions.
- The Department of Homeland Security said it would not discuss operational details for safety reasons but identified several people with prior convictions who were arrested in Connecticut.
- Community groups and the mayor say many detained were long-term residents or people with work authorization and that arrests occurred in public places near schools and daycares, prompting protests and tense encounters with officers.
- The local raids follow a nationwide rise in ICE arrests in June and July after new funding and hires and occur while the Justice Department is actively contesting Connecticut’s law that limits certain ICE tactics.