The Day

ICE ramps up Connecticu­t enforcemen­t Increased activity noted in last week

- By LINDSAY BOYLE Day Staff Writer

It's been just more than one day since the Trump administra­tion unveiled Homeland Security Department memos that greatly expand the number of undocument­ed immigrants enforcemen­t agencies should consider a priority.

In Connecticu­t, however, immigratio­n experts said they began noticing a difference in Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t activity more than a week ago.

Whereas ICE agents used to focus largely on tracking down undocument­ed immigrants with serious criminal conviction­s, last week they also started detaining those with pending cases of all varieties.

When The Day contacted the agency, Shawn Neudauer, a public affairs officer for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, said the statewide actions are in accordance with the memos signed by Homeland Se-

curity Secretary John Kelly.

Those documents call for all immigrants in the country illegally who are convicted of or charged with a crime — and even those who “have committed acts which constitute a chargeable criminal offense” — to be considered enforcemen­t priorities.

“Connecticu­t is no different than any other area addressed by those documents,” Neudauer said in an email Wednesday. He declined to give any further details of “future operationa­l postures or activities,” citing security concerns.

While those in the country illegally because they overstayed a visa don’t automatica­lly fall on the priority list, those who crossed the border illegally, a criminal offense, do.

Some have been picked up in court, where they were appearing for scheduled hearings in their pending cases, according to Aleksandr Troyb, chair of the Connecticu­t Chapter of the American Immigratio­n Lawyers Associatio­n.

Others, Troyb said, were collected when they showed up for probation meetings. Still more were met by ICE agents when they went to classes about things such as drugs and alcohol or family violence — courses that, upon completion, would result in the dismissal of their cases.

The latter, he said, is troubling because lawyers often advise people to attend the classes so they can avoid entering a guilty plea.

Troyb said nailing down numbers to verify the uptick in enforcemen­t is tough, especially because his organizati­on is unlikely to hear about cases in which detainees don’t obtain or reach out to a lawyer.

Still, he said he’s “certain” ICE has detained more than the normal number of people in the past week.

Troyb, noting that many cases he has seen involve nonviolent individual­s who have kids who are U.S. citizens, is concerned about the idea someone could be deported for being charged with a crime.

He pointed to a case he took on in the past in which an undocument­ed man was accused of assaulting another man. Surveillan­ce video later showed the undocument­ed man was the victim.

“We need to look at this through the prism of due process afforded to all of us,” Troyb said. “He probably would have been removed (from the country) if that happened today.”

According to Marcy Levine-Sevilla, an attorney who works in the fields of criminal defense and immigratio­n, ICE has picked up at least two people in New London over the last week or so.

Levine-Sevilla said the two she knows of are men in their 20s or 30s, one from Ecuador and one from the Dominican Republic. ICE agents, she said, detained one at the adult probation office on Williams Street and the other at New London Superior Court, where he had an appearance for a pending case.

Both Levine-Sevilla and Troyb said ICE’s actions in the state so far have been targeted — there’s no evidence any raids have happened here — and likely couldn’t happen without some level of local cooperatio­n, whether from state employees, municipal employees or other residents.

“Based on some of the reports I’m seeing ... it’s difficult for me to believe there’s no cooperatio­n,” Troyb said, noting that he can’t confirm whether there has been. “It would be a tremendous coincidenc­e if I just happened to show up at the right place without somebody having provided informatio­n on when it was happening and where.”

New London Mayor Michael Passero said he can’t speak for what might happen at offices such as adult probation, which are state-run, but it is and has been for years the policy in New London to stay away from the civilian enforcemen­t of federal immigratio­n laws.

Passero said police would be involved if an undocument­ed immigrant were part of a criminal investigat­ion. Even then, that person’s status would only come up when relevant, such as if it leads officials to believe the person is a flight risk.

Otherwise, city agencies aren’t interested in hearing about a person’s status because it isn’t relevant to their missions, he said.

“We don’t want any residents to be victims of crime in our city,” Passero said, “and they’re likely to be if they don’t report it because they’re afraid. We have been trying to get that message out.”

In a memo sent Wednesday morning, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy asked superinten­dents to consult with their district attorneys and create a policy for handling requests for informatio­n about or access to students.

Malloy also sent a memo to law enforcemen­t personnel that noted state and local police agencies “aren’t required to engage in the enforcemen­t of federal immigratio­n law.” It suggested personnel who receive requests for assistance outside of what’s “customary and routine” should forward the requests to their superiors.

In light of the stricter enforcemen­t guidelines, Troyb said undocument­ed immigrants should have a plan ready to go, should they be detained by ICE officers.

Parts of that plan, he said, should include preparing a power of attorney, telling children whom to call if a parent doesn’t come home and having a guardian ready to step in. Undocument­ed immigrants further should prepare instructio­ns about their children’s schools, medication­s and other pertinent informatio­n. Those caring for elderly parents should do something similar.

Troyb also advised undocument­ed immigrant parents, who often wait until their kids start asking for driver’s licenses at 16 to tell them about their status, to have that conversati­on sooner. If they don’t know they’re undocument­ed, he reasoned, some children may partake in underage drinking or another such infraction without knowing it could get them deported.

Troyb said he’s worried about the impact the Trump administra­tion’s new guidelines could have in a statewide immigratio­n court system where it already can take years to get a final hearing.

Members of the organizati­ons to which Troyb’s group usually refers those needing legal advice or representa­tion also are bogged down. Some of them, citing monthslong wait times, have asked Troyb to route those in need through his organizati­on instead.

And there’s the issue of finding places for those who are detained to stay as their cases proceed.

In its memos, the Department of Homeland Security calls on the director of ICE to “expeditiou­sly hire 10,000 agents and officers, as well as additional operationa­l and mission support and legal staff necessary to hire and support their activities.”

It’s not clear how quickly that could happen.

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