NEW HAVEN — The detention of five people by federal immigration officers on Monday sparked protests by activists in the city on Wednesday in opposition to the work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, so-called ICE, in the state with calls to resist the federal authorities.
Mayor Justin Elicker spoke from the podium at the rally, which drew heavily from the political left, and which was critical of other Democratic leaders, including Gov. Ned Lamont.
“It is the right thing to do, because it’s something that expresses our values as a city,” Elicker told protestors. “We are here together to say that New Haven has every legal possibility, every legal access that we can to fight for the rights of our residents.”
In a press release following the rally, Elicker called the actions of federal immigration officers “appalling and inhumane.”
Four immigrants were arrested Monday while working at a car wash in Southington. That same day, a woman was detained in New Haven while she was taking her two children to school.
The daughter of the detained woman read aloud a letter to protestors.
“I shouldn’t really be here right now. My mom should honestly be here with me,” said the girl, who identified herself as “Monse,” and 13 years old.
“We would do anything to see a smile on her face, to see us succeed in life. However, we won’t be able to do that if we don’t let her stay here in America,“ Monse told the crowd of somewhat fewer than 100. She told protestors that she lived with an eight-year-old brother and that her mother had “built a new life for herself and her kids.”
The girl broke down in tears and did not continue.
Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, finished reading the letter, and spoke to the crowd.
“I’m a teacher, I’m a mom and I’m here to denounce the authoritarian tactics of the Trump administration,” Blatteau said, “What they did here in New Haven on Monday, what they are doing throughout this country, to terrorize children and to separate families, what the Trump administration is doing right now is the opposite of making people safe. They are hurting families and creating stress, trauma and disruption.”
Activists said they had gathered to protest outside the federal building at 150 Court Street because that was where the woman was being held before she was transferred to a detention center in Boston.
Federal officials, following current agency guidelines, have not disclosed why the five had been detained, nor has ICE consistently offered details of its activities or provided statistics on the number of detainees from Connecticut.
The rally in New Haven comes after a wave of protests, and episodic violence, in Los Angeles last Friday. That conflict has escalated into a confrontation between Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, and President Donald Trump who ordered a response by National Guard troops and active duty military.
On Tuesday, Lamont held a joint press conference with Attorney General William Tong and condemned the use of the military in California, while calling for peaceful protests.
“When you protest peacefully, you enhance the cause and people listen to your message,” said Lamont. “If the protest turns violent, sometimes that distracts from your message.”
Republican Minority Leader Stephen Harding in a statement on Sunday called on the National Guard to “restore law and order” in California.
Protestors in New Haven took aim at the events in California, and what some protestors characterized as a tepid response by Democrats to actions of federal immigration officers.
Taite Lipchak, a member of the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America and the New Haven Immigrant Coalition, who identifies as chicano, criticized a recent vote by two members of Congress from Connecticut.
“California had sanctuary status and look at how the Democratic-run cities and state over there failed to protect their community members against the military-style ICE raids,” said Lipchak. “Both parties uphold the systems of private prisons, of racial capitalism and imperialism. And Democratic Congress members Johanna Hayes and Joe Courtney just voted to thank ICE for what they’re doing.”
The crowd booed loudly.
“The Connecticut community has failed these five people this past week,” Lipchak said. “We as a community need to be organized so that we can respond like that when ICE tries to fill quotas by kidnapping our community members. The truth is, we cannot rely on sanctuary status in the city or the state. Lamont doesn’t care about his most vulnerable populations.”
Lipchak, one of the protest leaders and carrying a trumpet, said from the beginning that his demands went beyond the issue of detainments and deportations.
“Buenos días a todos, salam aleikum,” Lipchak greeted the crowd in Spanish and Arabic. Lipchak said their fight included Palestine, Black lives, indigenous lives, women’s rights, workers’ rights, and the environment. “Our liberation is interconnected.”
A Palestinian flag flew prominently behind some speakers, appearing after Elicker left the podium.
“Repeat after me. From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go down,” Lipchak said. “From LA to CT, ICE, you have to leave.”
Moses Newman, a software engineer in his late 50s who was riding his bike near the gathering, shouted at the pro-Palestinian protesters. He refused to leave when asked by the activists.
“No, I’m not going anywhere,” Newman shouted back. “You are holding up a Muslim terrorist flag. They are murderers.”
Newman said to CT Examiner he did not see it as a rally against deportations.
“I think it’s a Muslim terrorist riot,” Newman said. That’s not a Hispanic flag. That’s a Palestinian flag.”
“Would you mind engaging with this clown down the street,” one protester asked a member of crowd who was speaking to Newman.
“Don’t call me a clown, you little fucking faggot,” Newman shouted back.
The issues of immigration and the war in Gaza have collided since Trump took office for a second term, revoking visas and green cards of prominent pro-Palestinian protesters. The administration also revoked more than 1,800 international student visas on the grounds that they were pro-Palestinian political activists, a decision that was later reversed.
Another protestor, Ella Rossi, spoke of Kevin Rosero Moreno, a classmate at Meriden High School who was taken into custody last week along with his father at an immigration hearing. The incident occurred days before he would have graduated on Tuesday.
Rossi said she had been assigned the seat next to Rosero Moreno at the ceremony.
“Having that empty chair at graduation was just a terrible reminder of what’s going on in our country right now,” Rossi said. “During Trump’s first administration, I was fighting for one of our community parents who was being deported and taken away from their family. And now, in his second term in office, unfortunately, I’m here doing it again for my classmate. This is absolutely unacceptable.”`
On Wednesday, Rosero Moreno’s classmates rallied in Meriden in support of him.
As the speeches concluded, the crowd marched down Orange Street, turned onto Chapel Street and headed toward the Armed Forces Career Center on Church Street.
They chanted,
“Stay loud, stay clear, we don’t want ICE here.”
“No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA.”
At the door of the armed forces office the speeches continued, criticizing the military and US foreign policy, with calls to form a third party and calls to take over federal buildings.
Activists wore anti-ICE T-shirts, keffiyehs. One protestor wore red earrings with hammers and sickles.
John Jairo Lugo, co-founder and community organizing director of Unidad Latina en Acción in New Haven, said it was a broad coalition of groups.
Lugo, originally from Colombia, said this week’s protest was also a gesture of solidarity with organizations in Los Angeles.
“We decided we couldn’t stay silent anymore. Our people are being attacked,” Lugo said. “I think they’re going to start arresting a lot more people in Connecticut and we have to be prepared.”