ICE arrests rose significantly nationwide in June and July, data show
Federal immigration officers have detained more than 50 people in Danbury, Connecticut, this week in an operation that began Monday and continued through Wednesday. The operation is proceeding despite opposition from elected officials and protesters, and despite Connecticut laws that seek to limit Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s authority.
Danbury Unites for Immigrants, a local advocacy group tracking the operation, said as of Wednesday evening that the arrests had torn apart 40 families, with many others hiding in fear.
Clementina Lunar, an advocate with the group, described one arrest in which a father who had walked his child to a bus stop was detained shortly after the school bus drove off.
ICE officers, some of whom wore masks, detained people outside Danbury apartment buildings, during traffic stops, in parks, near an elementary school, and outside a daycare center, according to the mayor and activists tracking the operation.
Connecticut is among the Democratic-led states that have adopted laws seeking to limit ICE’s authority within their borders.
The Danbury operation is part of the Trump administration’s federal deportation efforts — described by AP as a “mass deportation campaign” — continuing in Democratic-led states such as Connecticut that have laws seeking to limit ICE’s authority. Nationwide, ICE arrests rose significantly in June and July, according to newly released federal data.