Our immigrant community is under attack. The Trump Administration is acting on their promises of mass deportation - ramping up ICE presence in our communities, opening up new detention centers, and allowing ICE to terrorize our schools, hospitals, and places of worship.

ICE arrests are targeting our neighbors, friends, and loved ones, instilling fear in immigrant families. The fear caused by these arrests, which have already resulted in the detention of dozens of undocumented individuals, is spreading quickly. Families are now too afraid to leave their homes, send their children to school, or seek medical care.

Connecticut has the power to act. In 2013, Connecticut passed the nation’s first, “Transparency & Responsibility Using State Tools” (TRUST) Act. The TRUST Act limits the ability of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use our state/local law enforcement to carry out their terror. Since then, loopholes in the TRUST Act have meant that any violations go unaddressed.

The TRUST Act is one of the strongest tools our state can use to protect immigrant families from Trump’s Terror. In 2025, we must strengthen the TRUST Act to ensure that local resources are not used to separate families.

What does that look like? Well, we need to:

• Ensure the TRUST Act has enforcement mechanisms and allows community members to hold state agencies accountable if there are violations of the TRUST Act.

• Protect immigrant communities who trusted the state with their personal information, by ensuring the state does not unnecessarily collect and share data.

• Protect access to CT courthouses.

• Create a reporting mechanism to track and monitor violations.

The time is now to pass a TRUST Act that works for the people.

We urge state leaders to take bold, proactive steps to strengthen the Trust Act and protect the rights of immigrant families.

Send a letter to Governor Lamont and your legislator - and demand they support strengthening the TRUST Act this year!