While outside the entrance to Tweed-New Haven Airport Wednesday afternoon, Rev. Scott Marks stood at the property line where he said sacred principles of human dignity should not end.
“A public transportation hub is built to connect families, welcome travelers, and service the community,” Marks said. “It must never be turned into a shady site of unauthorized surveillance, fear, or unlawful detention.”
This is what the New Haven Immigrants Coalition (NHIC) is trying to ensure with a Freedom of Information Act request that seeks records pertaining to federal immigration enforcement at the airport.
The Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School submitted the request on behalf of the coalition ahead of the Airport Authority board meeting Wednesday, along with a letter sent to the board of directors’ leadership.
The request asks for records showing that “each ICE officer granted unrestricted access to Tweed since January 1, 2025 has been subjected to an adequate ‘employment investigation that includes a criminal records check.’”
It also calls for ICE arrest records and personnel identification records of ICE agents granted airport access, all since January 1, 2025.
Additionally, NHIC is seeking records like maps or floorplans that identify all areas that the airport authority has granted ICE personnel access. It also requests training protocols for ICE agents around state law that prohibits civil immigration arrests without a judicial warrant at Tweed.
“We want to know who they are,” said Anne Watkins, a member of NHIC.
“We want to know if they're pulling another ICE agent along with them, even if that person doesn't have clearance,” she said. “We want to know if they've actually done the background check, because we know from around the country that ICE says that they do the background checks, but they don't always.”
Airport officials weigh in
ICE arrests at Connecticut airports like Tweed and Bradley prompted the request, Watkins said.
“They were moving about their days. They were going to visit friends and family, returning from trips, coming back to get started in school, and that's not okay,” Watkins said. “This should not be happening.”
A Tweed-New Haven Airport spokesperson said Tweed is subject to federal law like all public airports and has no authority over federal enforcement activity.
“Tweed’s responsibility is to maintain a safe, secure and orderly environment for passengers, employees and airport operations,” the spokesperson shared in an email.
“Access for all personnel, including federal officers, is governed by federal regulations and the airport’s TSA-approved security program,” the spokesperson said. “Questions about any specific enforcement action should be directed to the federal agency involved."
Trinh Truong is a law student intern at the Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School. She said the responsibility doesn’t fall entirely on the federal level.
“Federal aviation regulations do not allow the airport authority to shirk its own oversight training and record-keeping duties under federal law,” Truong said. “In fact, they mandate the opposite.”
Several advocates spoke during the public comment portion of the Airport Authority board meeting Wednesday. A few board members asked for a more detailed summary of these specific comments in the meeting minutes, citing their importance.
For coalition member and New Haven Federation of Teachers President Leslie Blatteau, this boils down to one simple thing.
“We want Tweed to be good neighbors,” she said.
“We live in a welcoming city. We are committed to those principles of being a welcoming city, and Tweed, which benefits from being in New Haven, we need them to align with our values and principles, and be on the right side of this.”
Learn more
The New Haven Immigrants Coalition shares various resources online, including a bilingual Know Your Rights sheet and a hotline (854-666-4472) to report ICE sightings in the New Haven area.
