One year into President Trump’s second term, the question for Connecticut is no longer whether federal actions threaten civil rights and civil liberties. That question has been answered. The real question now is whether our state will act boldly to push back against authoritarianism before it takes deeper root.
Before the 2024 election, the ACLU of Connecticut published The Connecticut Memo, laying out exactly what a second Trump administration would mean for civil liberties in our state. After the election, our staff held town halls throughout the state about the threats posed by the Trump administration and outlined what Connecticut could do to counter them. We warned that immigrant communities would face intensified enforcement, surveillance would expand, and voting rights would come under federal pressure. Now, twelve months in, those warnings are no longer mere predictions. They are our daily reality, and the threats are intensifying as this administration works to consolidate power.
What we are witnessing is not a collection of isolated policies. It is authoritarianism in practice. Power is being concentrated. Dissent is being suppressed. States are being coerced to fall in line or face retaliation. This is not happening through dramatic executive orders alone. It is happening through the quiet machinery of government–data sharing agreements, coordination between agencies, and repurposing the same systems meant to serve and protect people to instead exert authoritarian control.
Immigrant communities across Connecticut are feeling the consequences most acutely. Federal immigration enforcement has intensified, and despite important immigrant protections on the books, including those added last year, we do not have sufficient protections for our immigrant neighbors. Across the country and here in Connecticut, we have seen masked federal agents violate people’s free speech and due process rights, using excessive force at protests and raids. Our state must do more to protect immigrants from federal civil rights violations.
That is why the ACLU of Connecticut is focusing our work this year on a set of bold, proactive measures that starts with a push to ban the use of the Connecticut Guard for immigration enforcement while under state authority and narrows how the Guard can be deployed for crowd control at protests. And we will be critically pushing the legislature to create a meaningful path of recourse for people who have their rights violated or are harmed by federal agents through a Connecticut State Civil Rights Act.
Meanwhile, the proliferation of mass surveillance practices has become a quiet crisis. Connecticut residents’ location data, movement patterns, and health information are all being collected, aggregated, and shared across jurisdictions with little oversight. This information is flowing to federal authorities and being used to punish people for exercising their rights, whether that is seeking abortion care, accessing gender-affirming health care, or attending a protest. The mere existence of this surveillance is already chilling people from exercising rights they still technically have. We, along with a large group of partners, are pushing to regulate the use of automated license plate readers to prevent mass surveillance, which disproportionately harms immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, protesters, and those seeking sensitive health care.
As part of an effort to consolidate power, the Trump administration has also led an assault on voting rights, pursuing actions designed to impose new barriers to voting and interfere with how states administer elections. It’s a classic authoritarian tactic, and fortunately Connecticut officials have responded with defensive litigation. But that alone is only part of the solution: Connecticut also needs proactive protections for voters.
To defend free and fair elections, we are pushing for full implementation of no-excuse absentee voting, a reform Connecticut voters overwhelmingly mandated via a 2024 ballot measure but the legislature failed to implement during the last session. Working with partners, we will press for implementation so voters can actually use this important option in the 2026 election and beyond. We are also advocating for a robust version of no excuse voting that includes a permanent absentee voter list, so voters do not have to reapply every year, along with clear and fair ballot cure procedures to ensure that every eligible vote is counted.
The threats we’re confronting are interconnected. Attacks on immigrant communities and vulnerable populations, mass surveillance, and curtailing voting rights all serve to increase fear and limit our collective voice and freedoms. That's how authoritarianism works. It finds the cracks in our system and widens them until rights disappear through a thousand small surrenders. But each of those moments of surrender is also a choice, and we must choose to resist rather than accept authoritarianism as inevitable.
Over the past year, ACLU of Connecticut staff has anticipated threats, mobilized communities, and fought back in courts and at the Capitol. We are stronger and more capable than ever because that is what this moment requires. In addition to the priorities mentioned above, we will continue to limit government overreach and push for transparency and accountability while upholding and protecting free speech. We will also work to protect LGBTQ+ rights and ensure access to reproductive care. We will protect and defend our rights whenever and wherever they are threatened and push for bold progress.
Some elected leaders fear that bold action will provoke retaliation from the Trump administration. In private, I hear this constantly. But the truth is simple: there is already a target on our backs. The question is not whether Connecticut will be noticed—it’s whether we will lead when it matters most.
We can no longer settle for half measures. Connecticut must be proactive and establish durable protections before more people are harmed. With our resources and institutional strength, as a state, we can refuse to be conscripted into federal abuses, limit surveillance, and safeguard the ballot. By doing so, we create a blueprint for how states can protect vulnerable communities, shield residents from federal overreach, and preserve democratic norms under national attack.
Cautious actions by Governor Lamont and legislative leaders in recent years were not enough.
The ACLU of Connecticut remains mobilized and will work in the courts, at the Capitol, and in communities to close every legal gap, but lasting protections require leaders who act out of commitment to their constituents rather than fear of the federal government.
One year into this administration, the choice is clear: we can build a model for resistance rooted in law and values, or we can wait until our rights have already been stripped away.
We know what we are up against–this is our moment to be bold. We, the people of Connecticut, deserve nothing less.