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Attorney General William Tong apparently wasn't all that thrilled to hear the news that Connecticut, along with the cities of East Haven, Hamden, Hartford, New Haven, New London, and Windham, made the Department of Homeland Security's new "Sanctuary Jurisdiction" list.

Tong's office issued a statement saying that the Department of Homeland Security "released a list falsely labeling Connecticut as a “self-identified” state sanctuary jurisdiction."

“There is nothing in our laws or statutes that says Connecticut is a ‘sanctuary’ state. We are not. That is a meaningless term. It is the policy of the State of Connecticut to respect, honor and protect immigrants and immigrant families in compliance with the law. Trump’s own administration certified Connecticut’s compliance with 8 U.S.C. § 1373 in 2017. Nothing has changed to alter that certification, other than Trump’s unhinged fixation on defunding and commandeering our police. We sued the last time Trump attempted to defund our law enforcement, and we are prepared to defend Connecticut funding and public safety,” said Attorney General Tong.

To be clear, the current law of the land in Connecticut, the Trust Act, does the following:

• Prohibits law enforcement, bail commissioner or intake, assessment or referral specialists, or employees of a school police or security department, from sharing certain information with ICE unless required to do so by law;
• Clarifies that local and state law enforcement are not required by law to arrest, transport, or detain people for ICE;
• Prevents local and state agencies with detention facilities – like jails, courthouses, and prisons – from allowing ICE to roam their facilities;
• Prevents law enforcement, bail commissioner or intake, assessment or referral specialists, or employees of a school police or security department from performing the functions of a federal immigration authority, regardless of whether pursuant to any agreement, contract, or policy, whether formal or informal;
• Prohibits law enforcement from arresting or detaining an individual based solely on an administrative warrant or a civil immigration detainer, unless it is accompanied by a valid judicial warrant, the individual has been convicted of an A or B felony, or the individual is on a terrorist watch list. A civil immigration detainer is an administrative request, not a criminal or judicial warrant, even if signed by an immigration judge;
• Limits communication between Connecticut law enforcement and ICE to the disclosure of non-confidential information of any person that interacts with law enforcement to ICE without consent (except if required by law, such as to assist with a terrorism investigation);
• Restricts federal authorities’ access to interview an individual in custody unless they have a valid judicial order (except if person has been convicted of an A or B felony, or is on a terrorist watch list);
• Requires local governments to report to the Office of Policy and Management, on a biannual basis, when they grant ICE access to an individual to track such conduct and provide accountability for law enforcement;
• Requires law enforcement to inform individuals that ICE has requested their detention and provide them a copy of the detainer, if they receive a civil immigration detainer.

As if that's not enough, the newly strengthened Trust Act has been approved by both the State House and Senate and now awaits Governor Ned Lamont's signature before it would become law.

The "strengthening" further limits law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration authorities while also exposing municipalities to costly lawsuits from individuals that would now be able to sue municipalities over alleged Trust Act violations.

By the way, in its determination of what makes a city or state a "sanctuary," DHS assessed factors like compliance with federal law enforcement, information restrictions, and legal protections for illegal aliens.

"States that are deliberately and shamefully obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws endangering American communities. Sanctuary cities protect dangerous criminal aliens from facing consequences and put law enforcement in peril," said DHS on the new Sanctuary Jurisdiction website.

And here's a great example of how...

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