DOJ sues Connecticut, New Haven over sanctuary policies: 'Open defiance'
The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Connecticut and its city of New Haven, arguing that their sanctuary policies interfere with federal enforcement of the nation's immigration laws.The...
By Fox News · Fox News
The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Connecticut and its city of New Haven, arguing that their sanctuary policies interfere with federal enforcement of the nation's immigration laws. The lawsuit names Connecticut, its Gov. Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong, as well as New Haven and its Mayor Justin Elicker as defendants. The complaint takes issue with the state’s "so-called Trust Act" and other state and local sanctuary policies that the DOJ argues are illegal under federal law. The DOJ claims these policies have allowed "dangerous criminals" to be released into communities in the Nutmeg State. It also alleges that Connecticut and New Haven have made "intentional efforts" that the lawsuit argues obstruct federal law enforcement, put people at risk and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. DOJ SUES NEW JERSEY OVER EXECUTIVE ORDER LIMITING ICE COOPERATION, EXPANDING SANCTUARY STATUS "For years, Connecticut communities have paid the price of these misguided sanctuary policies," Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ's Civil Division said in a statement. "This lawsuit seeks to end such open defiance of federal law." But Elicker contends that the lawsuit misrepresents the city's immigration policies. He said the city will fight the lawsuit and that he is confident they did nothing wrong. "The complaint that’s been submitted by the federal government has untruths in it and is misleading. There’s actually quotes from the executive order that have ‘dot dot dot’ where they don’t finish the sentence and the last part of the sentence of the executive order actually clarifies the beginning part," Elicker told Fox 61. After Elicker was elected mayor in 2020, he signed an executive order barring law enforcement from asking for the immigration status of anyone they are working with. READ THE FULL COMPLAINT FILED BY THE DOJ BELOW The mayor said his city and its employees have not taken any action to obstruct t…