In April of this year, Hamden adopted a Welcoming City ordinance aimed at keeping city employees from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Immigrant advocates like John Lugo are now scrutinizing that promise after eight people were taken in an ICE raid last week.
“It was disclosed that the police got a courtesy call from ICE announcing that they were going to do the raid. They did not say anything to the mayor, did not say anything to the chief of police,” Lugo said.
Lugo is the lead organizer for Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA) in New Haven. He is one of several community leaders and immigrant advocacy group members that are calling for more transparency and support from city officials and police.
Advocates are gathering at the Hamden police department Tuesday at 5 p.m. to voice their demands.
Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett confirmed in a written statement that federal immigration officers did connect with a 911 dispatcher before the raid, but the dispatcher did not inform the police chief of the call.
“There is an open Internal Affairs investigation into what happened. The police should have been informed that there were federal agents operating in Hamden. Dispatch had a duty to inform the police,” Garrett said.
The call was made at about 8:15 a.m., according to the CT Examiner, just a couple of hours before the raid at the car wash happened at about 10:20 a.m.
Hamden police and federal immigration officials did not respond to a request for comment from Connecticut Public by the time of this publication. In a statement to the Hartford Courant before the scheduled rally, Hamden Police say a federal special agent with Homeland Security Investigations called dispatch last Wednesday morning.
“However, the Special Agent would not provide an exact address nor a cross street location and clarified that HSI did not require assistance from the Hamden Police Department,” Lt. Robert Manfield of the Hamden Police Department said in a statement to The Courant. “Notably, the special agent did not mention ‘ICE’ at all or refer to it during the call.”
The federal official reportedly said a 15 minute operation would take place on Dixwell avenue between 9:15 a.m. and 10 a.m. and would contact police once it was over.
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLaura also sent a letter to Acting ICE Director Todd M. Lyons a couple days after the raid, demanding more information.
Lugo said the lack of transparency of that day makes him question whether Hamden is following through on its Welcoming City ordinance.
“Looks like nobody's getting trained about how to act and how to protect the immigrant community,” Lugo said.
According to Lugo, the ordinance means every city employee should be educated on how to protect the migrant community in Hamden and how to avoid facilitating the job of federal immigration agents.
Garrett said that’s exactly what it does.
“The Welcoming City Ordinance prevents Town employees from cooperating with immigration agents. It does not address a duty to inform,” Garrett said in a statement.
For Lugo, however, that’s not enough. Lugo said there should be procedures in place for Hamden police and the mayor’s office to notify the public of an incoming or potential ICE raid.
“There are several organizations that have connections with the migrant community [in Hamden.] Somebody should be getting this information and announce it to the community,” he said.
“Also, they have the schools there. They have the libraries. They have the business community. There has to be a way to get in contact with these entities when something happens,” Lugo said.
Garrett said she has asked all staff at the city to inform their supervisor if federal immigration officers contact them.
Lugo also said the city of Hamden owes the detained individuals and their families support after the lack of communication around the ICE raid.
“There [are] people who are struggling because they cannot pay their rent, they cannot pay food, because right now, their loved ones are getting detained and it’s possible that some of them are going to be deported from this country,” Lugo said.
The city of Hamden should provide financial assistance, Lugo said, to cover legal expenses, including bail, and to cover the loss of income.
Garrett made no comment on providing that kind of assistance.
This story has been updated to include information from the Hamden Police department, as first reported by The Hartford Courant.
