U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy introduced legislation on Thursday to bar immigration enforcement operations at playgrounds, child care facilities and school bus stops, a response to recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Danbury. A four-day ICE operation in Connecticut resulted in 118 arrests, according to the source.
Murphy introduces bill to bar ICE operations at playgrounds, child care centers and bus stops
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy introduced legislation on Thursday to bar immigration enforcement operations at playgrounds, child care facilities and school bus stops, a response to recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Danbury. A four-day ICE operation in Connecticut resulted in 118 arrests, according to the source.
The bill prohibits agents, officers and employees of the Department of Homeland Security, or anyone acting under the agency's authority, from conducting operations at child care facilities, school bus stops and playgrounds. Murphy also supports legislation that would similarly prevent immigration enforcement actions at other sensitive locations, including hospitals, schools and courthouses. The Senate version of the "Protecting Sensitive Locations Act" was introduced by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., early last year, about a month after President Donald Trump took office.
Murphy has repeatedly decried the presence of ICE officers at school bus stops. Trump administration border czar Tom Homan initially said he was unaware of such arrests, and video released by Danbury United for Immigrants on social media appears to show such events taking place.
Murphy serves as the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee, which oversees funding for ICE. During government funding negotiations, he said he would not support new funding for DHS unless certain reforms to ICE were attached. Guardrails demanded by Democrats included tightening rules around arrest warrants, ending roving patrols, ensuring independent investigations, and new protocols for ICE agents such as banning face coverings, wearing body cameras and displaying proper identification. Those measures did not come to fruition, and DHS was in a shutdown for more than two months. Both parties blamed each other for the breakdown in negotiations. Republicans ultimately pursued a party-line bill under the budget reconciliation process, funding ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection with nearly $70 billion through the end of Trump's term without reforms.
After passing a stopgap bill to fund the government at existing levels through the November elections, Congress will need to address full-year funding for federal agencies when it runs out in mid-December, and DHS is likely to be a point of contention.
The source states that getting Murphy's trio of bills through a divided Congress faces steep odds, since similar legislation and ICE reforms stalled over the past year. Congress also has a small window to legislate for the rest of the year: the House is out of session through the election, and the Senate leaves town at the end of the month.
- The source does not name the bill Murphy introduced on Thursday or give its text or bill number.
- The source does not identify the individual bills it refers to as Murphy's "trio of bills."
- The source spells the advocacy group both "Danbury United for Immigrants" and "Danbury Unites for Immigrants."
- The source does not state the exact dates of the four-day ICE operation in Connecticut beyond describing it as recent and, in the volunteer's account, "a few weeks ago," and does not state whether the 118 arrests were all in Danbury.
- The source does not identify anyone appearing in the video released on social media or state whether the video has been independently verified.
- The source does not state whether ICE or DHS has responded to the legislation or to the video, and does not state whether Homan's position changed after his initial comment.
Read the original at CT Mirror