CT Democrats pass bill that will let illegal aliens sue cops, cities if anyone calls the feds on them

HARTFORD, CT- Once again, Connecticut Democrats have come down on the wrong side of an 80/20 issue. Last week, the House Democratic majority advanced legislation that will force municipalities to abide by the state’s so-called “Trust Act,” which permits “any aggrieved person” to seek an injunction against a municipality or its agents, including police and school employees, that cooperate with federal immigration officials, the CT Mirror reports. 

The bill was revised after pro-illegal alien advocates argued that municipalities, i.e., police departments, can ignore the state law already in place that defines when police and others can alert federal agents to the location of an illegal alien or detain them for deportation. 

While the bill, which (of course) passed on party lines 96-51 in the Democratically-controlled Connecticut State House, wouldn’t provide immediate recourse to illegal aliens detained after a municipal official (police officer) violated the Act, however an injunction would apply to future cases. If found in violation, the municipality would be forced to pay the plaintiff’s court costs and legal fees. 

House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, a North Branford Republican, voted in favor of the original version of the Trust Act passed in 2013; however had issues with the expansion. He stated that the current version has expanded the Act's reach to include other municipal officials not specified in the original version, which could expose them to potential legal costs. 

“It’s not enough that municipalities and our public safety cannot communicate with ICE for them to do their job. They’re now going to allow these same individuals to sue our towns and cities,” Candelora said. 

In typical liberal fashion, one of the Democrats who supported the bill, Rep. Steven Stafstrom, claims that the revision is intended to make illegal aliens feel safe when reporting a crime or seeking aid from the police without fear of being turned over to ICE and sent back to where they came from. 

He noted that the bill will still require local authorities to honor any court-issued warrant seeking custody of an illegal alien or an immigration hold for ICE, but that relies on them being arrested for one of a “list of serious charges,” Stafstrom said. 

“We’re trying to strike the right balance,” he said. 

The Mirror notes that the “politics surrounding immigration” have changed since the original bill was passed in 2013, notably the fact that the Biden administration allowed an estimated 20 million illegal aliens to invade the country in four years. Some Republicans who have been elected after colleagues such as Candelora voted for the original bill slammed the revision. 

“The Trust Act is a travesty. It is an insult to the people of this state. The only purpose that the Trust Act serves is to hide criminals from law enforcement,” said Rep. Doug Dubitsky, a Chaplin Republican. 

Another Republican, Rep. Craig Fishbein, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, also questioned the original intent of the 2013 Trust Act. 

“A lot of times these bills get wrapped in a package, a public relations term,” said Fishbein, who was elected to the State House in 2016. “It really should be called the Anti-Trust Act. Do we trust the government to use the statutes that are in place to protect us?” 

Stafstrom claims the Trust Act reassures immigrants and keeps law enforcement “focused on their primary duties,” whatever that is. Connecticut Democrats in the post-George Floyd era have ensured that the hands of Connecticut police officers are completely tied up, thus making it nearly impossible for them to “focus on their primary duties.” 

 “The intent and goal of the Trust Act was to make sure that our local law enforcement was focused on prosecuting crimes and protecting the citizens of Connecticut for offenses that occurred in the state of Connecticut,” Stafstrom continued.

One person who disagrees with the newly revamped Trust Act is Mathew Silverman, National President of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA). 

In a recent editorial published by Law Enforcement Today, Silverman slammed sanctuary policies implemented by liberal states such as Connecticut, noting those policies “weaken the relationship between local and federal law enforcement,” while also making it “more difficult to apprehend dangerous individuals, including violent illegal immigrants, cartel members, gang affiliates and human traffickers.” 

Silverman noted that aside from the “shiny objects” Democrats like to wave in front of some ignorant Americans, such as children being “separated” from their parents, federal law enforcement agencies are conducting some very important work. 

‘Our federal agencies are the ones conducting major investigations into violent transnational gangs, trafficking networks, and cartels moving illegal narcotics and weapons across state lines. They’re rescuing children being sold into human trafficking. hintercepting deadly fentanyl before it kills another innocent person.” This is why it is vital for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. 

One member of the House, Rep. Farley Santos, came to the United States as an illegal alien, brought to the U.S. from Brazil as a child. He dismissed the significant number of illegal aliens who belong to criminal gangs such as Tren de Aragua or MS-13 and parroted the same tired Democrat talking points. 

“They [illegal aliens] are the next doctors, they are the next entrepreneurs, they are the next public servants,” he claimed. “I urge my colleagues to have some compassion.” 

Exactly. The same compassion shown to Laken Riley, Jocelyn Nungary, Rachel Morin, and hundreds of other victims of illegal alien criminals. In other words, none! 

As a retired police officer, you can be assured that an overwhelming majority of police officers, both local and state, would jump at the chance to assist federal immigration authorities because, in the long run, it makes their job easier. Nobody wants illegal aliens out of the country more than rank-and-file police officers. 

In the wake of the George Floyd fiasco in 2020, Connecticut Democrats, along with some complicit Republicans, worked overtime to tie the hands of police. The result has been police officers who are no longer able to do the job they were hired to do, and that has turned the highways and roads in Connecticut into the equivalent of the Daytona International Speedway. Police officers are hesitant to use force when it is clearly warranted, fearful they could face the wrath of the state’s inspector general. The latest cowardly act by Connecticut Democrats will lead to further chaos in the state, which is probably what they want.