35 arrests made as groups rally in Hartford to abolish ICE, detention centers

Posted: Jul 02, 2018 5:33 AM PDT Updated: Jul 02, 2018 2:12 PM PDT By WFSB Staff
By Susan Raff CONNECT


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HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) -Protesters in Connecticut took to the streets on Monday against the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.

Channel 3's cameras were rolling as several protesters were arrested by police.

Authorities later said 30 protestors were arrested.
Groups like the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance, immigrant families, local clergy, so-called dreamers and other allies gathered outside of the Immigration & Customs Enforcement building in Hartford.

"I feel passionate children should not be separated from their parents - people should not be denied the opportunity to seek asylum. What ICE is doing is inhumane and should be stopped," said Tiffany Nicholas, a protestor from Granby.

The rally began just before 9 a.m.

The 35 people who blocked the entrance to ICE were arrested.

The following individuals were arrested: Charles Biodiscombe, Cheshire; Trudy Brockett, Hampton; Austin Bryniarski, Park Ridge, IL; Stephen Camp, Hartford; Rhona Cohen, New Britain; Rene Daguerre-Bradford, West Simsbury; Bianca Dang, New Haven; Elias Estabrook, New Haven; Kristin Fortier, Mansfield; Robert Goodrich, Waterbury; Constanza Gowen-Segovia, Hartford; Sally Grossman, Windsor; Ruth Howell, Middletown; Stefan Keller, Hartford; Adam Kelley, Woodbridge; Varun Khattar, South Windsor; Virginia King, Guilford; Lisa Loomis-Davern, Middletown; Cassandra Martineau, Willimantic; Charla Nich, Guilford; Dean Peckham, New Haven; Ashley Purdy, Simsbury; Gretchen Raffa, New Haven; Renae Reese, Hartford; Jackson Richmond, Ashland, OR; Rachel Rogers,-Bursen, Hartford; Caicedo Rosario, Middletown; Alicia Schmidt-Camacho, New Haven; John Rychwicki, Niantic; April Scheller, Middletown; Colleen Shaddox, East Haddam; Vanesa Suarez, East Haven; Stephen Thornton, New Haven; Mikveh Warshaw, New Haven; Paul Wessal, New Haven

The groups said their goal is to have ICE abolished and get lawmakers to stop "caging migrants" in detention facilities.

They said the immigration policy continues to tear families apart.

They said their protest comes on a day when the Trump administration plans to open a new ICE detention center in San Diego that will indefinitely detain 47,000 migrants.

The groups said the migrants are jailed in the facilities and await decisions on their immigration statuses. The said the cases should be considered civil, not criminal.

"It’s time for change, it's disrespectful and abominable to have children in cages, unfair to tear apart families, it’s unacceptable," said Catherine Tufano, a protestor from Ridgefield.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions put the immigration policy into place in April.

The groups said that while President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep families together, they'll still be jailed on the crime of illegal entry, which could keep them in prison for up to 20 years before they're deported.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/38554565/3...ention-centers