Immigrant Solidarity:

This spring, we worked in close partnership with our allies in support of three bills that were eventually consolidated into one, SB 397, which was passed and signed into law in May. This legislation does three important things:

• It establishes state-level protection for sensitive locations such as schools, playgrounds, hospitals, houses of worship, and social service providers. This restores protection that used to exist at the federal level until it was rescinded in January 2025, and stipulates that these areas are off-limits to civil immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant.
• It requires all law enforcement agents operating in our state to wear proper identification, and it prohibits agents from wearing masks except for in specific health-related circumstances. It also creates oversight and accountability and allows people to sue in state court when agents violate our constitutional rights.
• It limits the collection, retention, use, and sharing of surveillance data from Automatic License Plate Reader cameras. The data from these cameras had previously been searchable by out of state agencies, including ICE and its collaborators.

GHIAA added real value to this campaign, bringing a clear moral argument and adding the power of our many organized congregations. We participated in press conferences, organized constituent meetings, submitted public hearing testimony, and built stronger relationships with our allies in the immigrant rights movement.

This is a huge win! We can be rightly proud that Connecticut now has some of the strongest protections of this kind in the country.

And, we need to be honest: we are already seeing the limits of this victory. Federal agents continue to operate in violation of the law, and lines of authority for enforcement remain murky. We will continue to work with allies to monitor violations, improve implementation, and further strengthen the laws that must protect us all.