STATEMENT OF SEN. JORGE CABRERA ON ICE DETENTIONS TODAY IN HAMDEN

HAMDEN – State Senator Jorge Cabrera (D-Hamden) issued the following statement today after federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stormed a Hamden car wash and detained and took away eight people, including a husband and wife and a customer.

“Since we passed the TRUST Act a decade ago, Connecticut has always carved out exceptions for dangerous felons. Democrats don’t have a problem with that. Neither does the governor. What we do have a problem with is Donald Trump and ICE telling us that they are arresting the scum of the Earth – murders and gang members and pedophiles. And then who do they arrest? Landscapers. Dishwashers. High school kids. People working at car washes. So called ‘overstays’ who show up in court for immigration hearings. Here’s a simple solution: Go back to last year’s bipartisan immigration reform bill that Congress was ready to pass until Donald Trump told Republicans, “Don’t pass that – I need a bogeyman to run against in the November election.” And so Republicans killed the bipartisan immigration reform they had been working on with Democrats under Joe Biden. If Trump and ICE are truly concerned about immigration, go back and pass that bill. Give people a path to citizenship. That’s what most Americans support. But don’t arrest hardworking, taxpaying immigrants.”