By Anne White
Members of the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) recently met with the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office to request additional training on how Connecticut’s immigration enforcement laws should be applied.
The meeting comes as the state’s 2019 expansion of the Trust Act, which restricts local law enforcement’s ability to coordinate with federal immigration authorities, faces renewed scrutiny following multiple cases in which convicted or suspected criminals were released rather than transferred to federal custody.
The 2019 expansion of the Connecticut Trust Act prohibits local police from complying with detainer requests, which are issued by immigration officials when an undocumented individual is arrested and believed to be subject to deportation. Under the law, law enforcement agencies in Connecticut cannot notify immigration officials of an individual’s pending release unless the person has been convicted of a Class A or B felony, is on the federal terrorism watchlist, or is the subject of a judicial warrant.
Critics of the policy, including law enforcement officials and Republican legislators, argue that it has prevented the transfer of convicted sex offenders, violent felons, and gang-affiliated individuals to federal custody requiring immigration agents to locate and arrest them after they have already been released. Supporters of the law, however, say it is necessary to prevent immigrants from being unfairly targeted and to encourage victims and witnesses of crimes to report offenses without fear of deportation.
In a statement to the Greenwich Sentinel, Greenwich Police Chief Jim Heavey, who is also a vice-president of CPCA, acknowledged the challenges the law presents for law enforcement agencies attempting to comply with state and federal directives.
“First and foremost, the Greenwich Police Department does not want any victim or witness of a crime not to call us because of a concern with their legal status,” Heavey said. “That said, if you are arrested and are wanted by any other local, state, or federal law enforcement agency, we will notify that agency of your arrest. A person is considered wanted if a judicial warrant has been issued for their arrest.”
Heavey clarified that under the Trust Act, federal immigration officers can take custody of individuals only under specific conditions, including a judicial warrant, a conviction for a Class A or B felony, or a match in the federal Terrorist Screening Database.
The Greenwich Police Department, he said, also makes an effort to avoid arrests at schools, hospitals, and places of worship, except in cases where there is an immediate threat to public safety.
To ensure compliance with the Trust Act, Heavey said he and other members of the CPCA met with the State’s Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office to request additional legal guidance and officer training.
Under federal immigration enforcement policy, immigration officials regularly issue detainers when local authorities arrest an individual who may be subject to removal from the United States due to an existing deportation order or serious criminal record.
A detainer request does not authorize a new arrest. Instead, it asks that local law enforcement hold an individual for up to 48 additional hours beyond their scheduled release so that federal officers can take custody of them. If a detainer is ignored, the individual is released back into the community, requiring immigration agents to locate and arrest them at a later time.
Before 2019, Connecticut law allowed police to decide whether to comply with detainers. The 2019 expansion of the Trust Act removed that discretion, preventing local police from notifying ICE unless a conviction for a Class A or B felony had already been secured. This means that individuals convicted of Class C, D, and E felonies, as well as those charged with crimes but not yet convicted, must be released without notification to federal immigration authorities.
Immigration officials have pointed to multiple cases in which Connecticut law enforcement agencies released individuals with serious criminal records, despite detainer requests issued before their release.
• In January 2024, immigration officers in New Haven arrested a twice-convicted sex offender who had previously been released despite an active detainer request. The man had prior sexual assault convictions from 2013 and 2017, but Connecticut officials did not notify immigration officers before his release.
• In February 2024, a Honduran national charged with first-degree sexual assault against a child under 13 was released from the Hartford Correctional Center, despite a detainer request that had been issued four months earlier. Immigration officers were only able to track him down in April, after he had already been at large for two months.
• In another case, Alejandro Martinez, an undocumented immigrant, was convicted of manslaughter in 2023 after killing a father of three in Connecticut. Despite the conviction, local officials did not notify ICE, and he was released into the community.
State Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) has called for a repeal of the 2019 Trust Act expansion, arguing that it prevents police from fulfilling their public safety responsibilities and results in the release of convicted criminals rather than their transfer to federal custody.
“The 2019 Trust Act takes away the option for Connecticut police to contact federal authorities regarding any illegal migrant arrested or convicted of Class C, D, or E felonies, misdemeanors, or known gang affiliation,” Fazio said in a statement.
Fazio has pointed to cases such as the release of convicted sexual offenders and individuals charged with child sex crimes as evidence that the law has compromised public safety.
The 2019 law was passed on a party-line vote, with all Republican legislators and some Democrats opposing it. Supporters of the law say that it was designed to prevent racial profiling and to ensure that undocumented residents feel safe reporting crimes without fear of deportation. Critics argue that it goes beyond its intended purpose, making no distinction between violent felons and individuals accused of minor offenses.
Connecticut is one of several states that have implemented noncooperation policies regarding federal immigration enforcement. Other states with similar laws include California, Illinois, and Massachusetts, where local jurisdictions are also prohibited from honoring immigration detainers in most cases.
Immigration officials maintain that detainers are issued based on criminal history, not simply on immigration status. They argue that state-level policies limiting cooperation force federal officers to locate and re-arrest individuals after their release, rather than taking them into custody before they re-enter the community.
With bipartisan concern growing over the law’s impact, Connecticut lawmakers are expected to debate whether to repeal or modify the 2019 expansion of the Trust Act. While Democratic leadership has historically supported noncooperation policies, the number of high-profile cases in which released offenders have committed additional crimes has increased pressure to revisit the law.
As the debate continues, federal immigration authorities say they will continue tracking down released individuals, a process that, in some cases, has allowed convicted criminals to remain at large for months before they are taken into custody.
