HARTFORD — Senator Gary Winfield joined the ACLU of Connecticut at the Capitol in Hartford on Tuesday to denounce the Trump administration’s blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution and due process, citing the unlawful transfer of people to a prison in El Salvador, in defiance of court orders.
On March 14, President Trump secretly invoked the Alien Enemies Act — a centuries-old authority that has never been used during peacetime — to set in motion the swift transfer of hundreds of people to a foreign prison without due process or judicial review, based on the government’s unfounded claim that they are all violent members of the gang Tren de Aragua.
The ACLU, ACLU of D.C., and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit immediately. On March 15, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO), then broadened its scope, ordering any deportation or removal flights return immediately. Despite the court’s verbal and written orders, the Trump administration transferred hundreds of men to a prison in El Salvador notorious for its flagrant human rights abuses and indefinite detention. One of those people was Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a resident of Maryland who has been the subject of much media coverage and an international political scandal.
The federal government has since admitted that they made an “administrative error” in his arrest, but has continuously mocked their obligation to return him. The presidents of both countries have met in the Oval Office within the last month and told press they aren’t able to facilitate Mr. Garcia’s return, despite being commanders-in-chief of their countries. President Trump has joked that he would like to send American citizens to such torturous prisons, far from the reach of legal representation and no transparency or oversight.
Yesterday, White House press secretary Katherine Leavitt said that the White House “intends to comply” with the El Salvadoran president’s claim that he refuses to return Mr. Garcia. The Venezuelan attorney general has accused El Salvadoran president of “human trafficking.”
The Trump administration unsuccessfully challenged the TRO in federal courts until they filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on March 28. On April 7, the Court ruled that people targeted for removal under the act are entitled to challenge their removal — including by challenging the interpretation and constitutionality of the Alien Enemies Act — but lifted the nationwide TRO while inviting new lawsuits in states where people were and are being detained. In response, ACLUs nationwide filed multiple new class action lawsuits. Federal judges in New York, Texas, and Colorado granted temporary restraining orders halting any deportations via the Alien Enemies Act in their jurisdictions. Millions of people in the United States and worldwide have protested this dereliction of due process.
“I come here today to stand with the ACLU to say that the Trust Act is not only a bill of great importance but, in this moment, is critical,” Senator Winfield said. “The machinery of misinformation that is at play right now has allowed us to continue to play innocent when we know better. The Trump administration can put up all the signs that they want about this type of criminal activity or that type of criminal activity, but what we have watched are mothers, fathers, business owners being deported in an effort to bolster a failing administration. That’s what we have been watching.”
“This is an all-hands moment,” said ACLU of Connecticut public policy and advocacy director Chelsea-Infinity Gonzalez. “Due process is the cornerstone of the rule of law. Immigrants, Black and Brown people, and people of color are being unfairly criminalized because of the president’s extremist agenda. This is a pattern of outrageous abuse and overreach by this administration. Hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants have been taken from their homes and shipped to this Salvadoran prison with no hearing or review, and the administration has ignored the court orders demanding their return and ordering the flights to stop. The Trump administration is claiming unprecedented power to deport and disappear hundreds – regardless of the harm, the errors, or the cruelty. It’s even more insulting that government officials themselves have admitted this was an ‘administrative error.’ No person should be deported to face torture, and no one should be disappeared and denied the ability to contact their families or a lawyer.”
“In Connecticut, this means we must strengthen the Trust Act,” Gonzalez continued. “Decisive action is possible. Our state motto translates to, ‘the person who transplants here, sustains’. Connecticut has long been a place where people feel welcomed and enjoy human rights and civil liberties.”
“The ACLU of Connecticut has continuously and publicly voiced our commitment to due process and the rule of law,” said ACLU of Connecticut executive director David McGuire. “We have also filed court cases, crafted policy, and been advocates and coalition partners with immigrant communities in the state. Our ACLU colleagues have filed more than 100 lawsuits against this unlawful administration, including multiple habeas petitions to halt unlawful removals under the Alien Enemies Act. We support Connecticut’s elected officials in strengthening the Trust Act.”
Senator Winfield said the Trump administration’s actions underscored the importance of Connecticut’s Trust Act, which stops the arrest of immigrants based solely on ICE detainers. The current law enables law enforcement to turn non-citizen immigrants over to ICE if they are the subject of a warrant, if they have been convicted of a class A or B felony, or have been placed on a federal terrorist watch list. Both the ACLU of Connecticut and Senator Winfield are sounding the alarm on the further criminalization of large swaths of people, lack of transparency, and on human rights abuses.
“This is exactly why laws like the Trust Act matter,” Senator Winfield said. “We have a responsibility in Connecticut to make sure our state and local law enforcement do not enable the federal government to ignore court orders and basic rights.”