ACLU: Police helping ICE track targets
HARTFORD — Police in Fairfield, Westport, Stratford, Trumbull and Norwalk have been assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in providing the locations of residents in a nationwide mass-surveillance program, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
A report releasedWednesday by the ACLU’s Northern California office charges that in all, eight Connecticut law-enforcement agencies, including Southern Connecticut State University, and police in Enfield and Wethersfield have been providing the information in possible violation of the state’s 2013 TRUST law.
In all, 80 law enforcement entities across the country have given ICE assistance, including location information through a wide-ranging license-plate database tracking daily movements of potential ICE targets, the ACLU said.
“This is the latest example of why Connecticut needs a multitude of safeguards to take control of police surveillance and limit local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE,” said David McGuire, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut. “All eight of these Connecticut police departments must immediately stop sharing their residents’ information with this rogue and immoral agency, and Connecticut’s legislature must step up to pass a statewide law to take control over police surveillance, create privacy protections if the state adopts electronic tolls, and pass a bill to strengthen the TRUST Act.”
Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling and Norwalk Police Chief Thomas Kulhawik, in a joint statement Wednesday night, denied that there is an agreement with ICE.
“We do not report anyone’s immigration status,” Rilling and Kulhawik said. “On its face, it appears data from a cloud-based law enforcement database used by NPD was used by ICE to obtain information on specific individuals. That is not the intent of this database, as it is meant to assist law enforcement with criminal investigations.”
They said Norwalk is a welcoming city. “We proudly stand with immigrants and residents of all backgrounds and beliefs. Our diversity is one of the greatest strengths of our community. It is the express policy of the Norwalk Police Department to refrain from cooperating or assisting with federal immigration actions.”
Wethersfield Police Chief James Cetran, president of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, said Wednesday that he had been unaware that the license-plate contractor has been sharing information with ICE, and planned to find out more on Thursday.
“It’s a valuable tool,” Cetran said in an evening interview. “I’m not looking for it to track immigrants. I don’t believe police in Connecticut, or around the country, are using this to track citizens going abouit their daily business.”
Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the legislative Judiciary Committee, said the report is disturbing, but he stressed that pending bills would close several loopholes in the current law. One proposal would require local government to report to the state data regarding individuals to whom local law enforcement has provided ICE access.
“If proven true, this report is very concerning,” he said. “Just last week, the Judiciary Committee heard heartwrenching testimony as to how families in our state are being ripped apart by ICE’s extreme deportation tactics. Connecticut was a leader in passing the first TRUST Act as way of making sure individuals living in our state have an opportunity to seek help, to go to police officers when they are victims of crimes, and to interact with government without the fear of being deported. Local government should not be violating the spirit of that law and using their limited resources to do ICE’s job for it.”
The report was released Wednesday afternoon. Police departments in Fairfield, Westport, Stratford and Trumbull did not immediately respond to requests for comment.