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State Sen. Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott) is recirculating a video this week that draws a distinction Connecticut Democrats keep trying to blur: legal immigration and illegal immigration are not the same thing.
“America is a nation of immigrants, and that is something worth celebrating,” Sampson said. “We welcome people from around the world who come here lawfully, follow the rules, work hard, become part of our communities, and pursue the American Dream.”
The problem, he argues, is policy that treats unlawful presence as if it were the same as lawful entry. Connecticut residents are already struggling with an extraordinary cost of living, yet state government continues to spend taxpayer dollars on benefits under rules that extend eligibility regardless of immigration status.
A 2023 Federation for American Immigration Reform study put the national fiscal cost of illegal immigration at $150.7 billion, with Connecticut’s share estimated at $1.28 billion — nearly $1,000 per household. A March 2026 Dallas Fed working paper found that inflows of illegal immigrants equal to 1 percent of a local area’s employment raised house prices 2.2 percent and rents 1.4 percent, with little new housing supply, accounting for about 30 percent of house-price growth and 20 percent of rent growth over that boom. In a state already priced out of reach for many working families, that is not a minor issue.
More troubling, in Sampson’s view, are laws that restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities even when serious crime is involved. This year lawmakers considered a bill that would have let Connecticut police temporarily hold someone for federal immigration authorities after a finding of probable cause on serious felony or family-violence charges. Sampson supported it.
“If someone comes to America, commits a serious crime, and is subject to lawful removal proceedings, Connecticut shouldn’t stand in the way,” he said.
That position has been consistent and Sampson argues it should not be controversial. Sampson has spent years opposing the 2019 Trust Act, which he has called the measure that turned Connecticut into a “super sanctuary” by limiting local cooperation with ICE, including in cases involving serious criminal convictions. Republican attempts to restore that cooperation have failed on party lines.
“This isn’t about race. It isn’t about where someone came from,” Sampson said. “It’s about lawful immigration, public safety, fairness to taxpayers, and the rule of law.”
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