We congratulate our partners—Junta for Progress Action, SEIU Local 32BJ, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, the Connecticut Immigrant Rights Alliance and many others—on the passage of the Connecticut TRUST Act (HB6659) in the state legislature on May 22, 2013. The state’s House and Senate unanimously supported this historic legislation, which prohibits all local and state law enforcement and the state’s judicial marshals from detaining immigrants at the request of federal immigration authorities, with some exceptions. When the Governor signs this legislation, Connecticut will become the first state in the country to adopt the TRUST Act, protecting thousands of Connecticut families from being torn apart by needless detentions and deportations.

CPD worked closely with partners in Connecticut to develop the campaign strategy and policy, and to create advocacy materials to help move the bill through committee and to passage. This victory comes at a time when, at the federal level, lawmakers are arguing for heightened border security and increased enforcement as a precursor to creating a pathway to citizenship for 11 million people. With the passage of the TRUST Act, Connecticut is rejecting this approach and showing the country that aggressive, punitive enforcement strategies have no place in a just and humane reform of immigration policy.