Anti-ICE demonstrators gathered in four towns and cities across Connecticut on Friday afternoon, in solidarity with Minnesotans participating in a general strike there following weeks of harsh tactics by immigration officials.
The demonstrations were held in Willimantic, Bridgeport, New Haven, and at the state Capitol in Hartford.
The rallies were planned by a coalition of dozens of organizations, including the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America, Make the Road Connecticut, the Connecticut AFL-CIO, SEIU 1199NE, and SEIU 32BJ.
The demonstrations come after a surge in immigration enforcement actions have left Minnesotans both on edge and defiant. On Jan. 7, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed unarmed mother Renee Good. ICE agents have recently detained children, including the high-profile case of 5-year-old Liam Ramos. Minnesota Public Radio reports violence by immigration officials has “become a common sight” amid the surge.
The demonstrations were held a day before a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man, Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis.
In Hartford, between 100 and 200 rallygoers chanted slogans like “Abolish ICE” and “ICE thugs have got to go.”
Stuart Savelkoul with the American Federation of Teachers of Connecticut told the crowd that the country’s immigration system is cruel.
“Today, as we honor the life of Renee Good, we stand for a country and a Connecticut where families are not torn apart, where children are not traumatized, and where no one is treated as disposable because of where they were born,” Savelkoul said. “No more fear. No more violence. No more silence.”
Ed Hawthorne, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said workers’ rights and immigrants’ rights are bound together.
“Right now, we're witnessing fascism and racism on full display. We must continue to speak out. We cannot allow the kidnapping and murder of our neighbors to become normal,” Hawthorne said. “The labor movement stands in solidarity with all of you, and through our unity, we will continue to show up, stand up and fight back.”
In the crowd, Elizabeth Cowles of East Windsor held a sign reading “LET’S MELT SOME ICE.” She said she has family and friends in both Minnesota and Maine, another recent ICE target.
“I am fearful,” Cowles said. “What have we come to, where we're being ruled by people who think that cruelty is the point and it's fun to torture others? I just don't get it.”
“We need to stand together against anybody who tries to oppress others just to be cruel, and against white supremacy,” Cowles said.
She said it was important to her to see Connecticut politicians denounce ICE.
“We need to have our elected officials out every single day making statements and not hiding,” Cowles said.
Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, has compared ICE tactics to those of the Nazi Gestapo. Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) calls ICE an “agency that is murdering young mothers, threatening peaceful protestors with assault rifles, and kidnapping elderly Americans out of their homes.”
