By Chris Powell
Howls of outrage erupted on the political left in Connecticut after federal agents were spotted enforcing immigration law last Tuesday morning outside the courthouse in Middletown, descending on someone waiting for the courthouse to open. The howls were laughable.
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Governor Lamont, Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim, and others expressed resentment that they had been given no notice of the raid. They seemed to have forgotten that the state law they support prohibits state and municipal police from cooperating with federal immigration officers in most instances, and that federal agents are not obliged to notify local authorities about arrests they make. They have separate authority in federal criminal and immigration law.
Besides, while the federal agents explained themselves to Middletown’s police department when the arrest was completed, they well could have suspected that any notice they gave to the authorities of a “sanctuary state” like Connecticut and a “sanctuary city” like Middletown would have been quickly conveyed to their target, preventing the arrest.
“I want everyone to feel welcome here,” the governor said, seeming to include illegal and illegal immigrants alike. If any journalists asked the governor if he distinguished between the two groups, it wasn’t reported. In any case he never does.
The governor added, “I don’t need ICE” — Immigration and Customs Enforcement — “going to courthouses rounding up people. I need when people are ordered to the courthouse, they know they can go there and deliver justice when necessary.”
The governor seemed to be saying that a summons to state court should exempt someone from enforcement of immigration law. He also seemed to be saying that there is no justice in immigration law enforcement. But again, if any journalist asked the governor to confirm that such nonsense is what he meant, it wasn’t reported.
At least state Sen. Gary Winfield from the “sanctuary city” of New Haven was clearer. Winfield said he and other legislators want to make sure that people “who are part of our community, who are ours whether status is a legal status or not, have all the protections that this state can offer.”
That is, in Connecticut legal and illegal immigrants are the same because the state nullifies federal immigration law and anyone who enters the country illegally and makes his way to Connecticut is exempt.
That is nonsense too, but there are fair concerns here about public safety and due process of law.
Immigration agents are not always clearly identified when they make arrests, unlike state and municipal police officers who are almost always in uniform during arrests. Vests emblazoned with “police” and “FBI,” such as those worn by the immigration agents in Middletown, are not really dispositive, since anyone can make one.
So when making arrests immigration agents should show their credentials not just to the people they are arresting but to concerned observers as well.
And people charged with breaking immigration law should be presented before an immigration magistrate to confirm their identities and the cause for deporting them before they are deported, not just snatched off the street and shipped out. While such proceedings may be happening, mainstream news organizations, most of which support illegal immigration and avoid putting critical questions to elected officials, don’t cover such proceedings.
The people in Connecticut who are prattling about restoring due process were happily silent when the Biden administration was waiving immigration law and admitting millions of foreigners without due process.
Indeed, political leaders in Connecticut who facilitated illegal immigration with “sanctuary” policies never contemplated its expense.
Even now the school system of “sanctuary” New Haven is facing a budget deficit of $15 million and may have to make dozens of layoffs, a potential disaster for education. But in recent years city schools have enrolled hundreds of illegal immigrant children. What provisions did the supporters of “sanctuary” policies in state and city government make for them? What provisions were made for housing them and their families so as not to worsen the housing shortage and drive up rents?
None. But who’s asking about this negligence? No one.
Chris Powell has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years. (CPowell@cox.net)
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Chris Powell column 
“Howls of outrage erupted on the political left in Connecticut after federal agents were spotted enforcing immigration law last Tuesday morning outside the courthouse in Middletown, descending on someone waiting for the courthouse to open. The howls were laughable.”
Epic lede.
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Like Homer only better journalism.
Sing, O Muse, of the wrath that rose like stormwinds in the hearts of the leftward hosts of Connecticut, when at dawn’s first light, grim agents of the distant realm, clad in law’s dark armor, descended upon Middletown’s sacred hall of justice. There, before the gates had opened, they seized a lone soul in silence. Then rose wails and cries from the sons and daughters of progress, sharp as the gull’s scream o’er the wine-dark sea — yet to the watchers, the laments rang hollow, as laughter echoes in empty halls.
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