Meanwhile Homeland Security Picked Up A Criminal Illegal Who Was Protected By Connecticut's Trust Act...

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The Vernon, CT, Town Council discussed on February 17th a request made by Council Member Laurie Abernathy regarding the creation or presentation of a contingency plan for ICE and the Vernon Police Department.

This item was also requested by Council Member Phyllis Winkler, who is the wife of former State Rep. Mike Winkler.

"Well, basically it's pretty simple. We follow the state law, and they passed a law that says essentially that we don't cooperate with ICE. If we arrest somebody and they don't have a warrant, we don't notify ICE," said Mayor Daniel A. Champagne.

The Police Chief was asked if that statement was correct, and he indicated it was.

"ICE came to town and they made a pick-up already. They notified, we did not assist," said the Mayor.

"That is correct, sir," responded the Police Chief.

"Since my time coming in as Chief, there have been two times in town where my department was contacted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement informing us they were serving a detention warrant or taking somebody into custody. They did not ask for our help, they just let us know the location. They called us within 20 minutes and said that they were done," explained the Police Chief. "That was all."

"The Trust Act prevents us from doing any type of data sharing, holding anybody without a judicial warrant," explained the Chief, indicating that his officers know the difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant.

Abernathy asked the Mayor whether he and the Police Chief should declare Vernon a sanctuary town.

"We're a sanctuary state, there's no reason for us to be," said the Mayor. "Listen, my job is the protection of the people that live here and so is the Chief's. And our job is to protect the people that live here, the citizens of the Town of Vernon, and we do that, right. We don't go out of our way to find people."

Then he put the question back to Abernathy.

"What do we do with somebody who's a repeat offender of serious crimes who we know is in the country illegally? Do we let the guy continue to commit these crimes... and let them go because our courts aren't locking people up? Or do we call ICE and have them do something?" the Mayor asked Abernathy.

"What the issue going on now, sir, is that they're not arresting criminals, they're arresting US citizens that happen to be, don't speak English and speak another language and look different than us," claimed Abernathy. "Yes, if you're a criminal, absolutely. If you're harming someone doing something, I get it. I have no qualms with that."

"What I have qualms is you're walking down the street with your kid and somebody comes up with no gear, no mask, no ID, and blacked out car and snatch you up and you can't call your family or nothing," said Abernathy. "That's what my concern is about my Vernon residents."

The Mayor denied that ICE was doing that in Vernon.

Abernathy claimed, "they will be, cause they're doing it in Hartford and I witnessed it twice already, and it's scary."

Another Town Council member, Patricia Buxton, challenged Abernathy, pointing out that ICE has been in Vernon two times, and it appears that the citizens of Vernon are safe.

The Mayor reminded Abernathy about the Supremacy Clause and pointed out he has no control over federal officers and they cannot interfere with federal officers, including ICE and the FBI.

Abernathy was worried about ICE snatching people and no one would know who to contact in the person's family. The Police Chief indicated that there had been a statewide meeting with the US attorney in New Haven to talk about this. He said to contact Police and they had resources to check on any potentially "missing" family members.

Buxton said that we were "blessed" to be living in a state like Connecticut.

"Ms. Buxton, you are blessed, but you're not a minority, either, so you're blessing is somebody else's terror because they're not coming for you, they're coming for them, and possibly me," claimed Abernathy. "So I know you guys all feel safe and Vernon PD is gonna keep us safe. It's the other people that don't feel safe that I want to feel safe."

Did she mean illegals?

While Vernon declined to call itself a sanctuary city, a number of other Connecticut cities have already passed or pushed for sanctuary resolutions, including:

• Bridgeport: Passed a resolution in October 2025 limiting ICE access to city surveillance, cameras, and data vendors.
• East Haven: Listed by federal authorities for policies impeding ICE, though specifics are less documented; aligns with state limits but has been highlighted for non-cooperation.
• Hamden: Adopted a "welcoming city" designation in 2025, with policies restricting local cooperation with ICE beyond the state Trust Act.
• Hartford: Officially declared a sanctuary city via municipal ordinance, prohibiting local police from inquiring about immigration status during arrests or cooperating with ICE without warrants; note that the mayor in recent weeks has repeated that Hartford is a sanctuary city.
• Middletown: Residents and advocates pushed for a resolution affirming commitment to the Trust Act and adding requirements like ICE agents identifying themselves and removing masks during operations. Discussions ongoing as of late 2025.
• New Haven: Designated as a "welcoming city" in 2020 through an executive order, forbidding city employees from inquiring about immigration status or sharing confidential data with ICE.
• New London: Implemented policies against racial profiling and limiting police involvement with ICE, though the mayor has disputed the "sanctuary" label, though the current mayor disputes the status as a sanctuary city.
• Windham: Passed a 2017 resolution declaring itself a sanctuary city, limiting police cooperation with ICE and prohibiting racial profiling based on immigration status.

Additionally, a number of police officials have made comments indicating their support of the Trust Act, too, such as Cheshire, Wilton, and New Haven.

The truth is the Trust Act makes Connecticut less safe for citizens.

Here's how:

Just yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security indicated that Christian Espinosa-Sarango, a criminal illegal alien from Ecuador, had been charged for sexual assault, illegal sexual contact with a child, and enticing minors with a computer in North Haven, CT, on December 19, 2025.

Four days later, on December 23, ICE lodged an arrest detainer asking local law enforcement not to release Espinosa-Sarango without notification.

However, police declined to honor the detainer and instead followed the Trust Act, releasing Espinosa-Sarango onto Connecticut’s streets.

This forced ICE officers to come into the community to arrest him on February 13th.

That could have been avoided if ICE had received a notification to collect Espinosa-Sarango directly from jail.

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