We need your voice this Monday in Hartford in person or remotely over zoom. (Thank you to Pam Lucas of TACT, Hartford Deportation Defense, and ReSisters for all this information.)
THREE Important Bills to Support NOW!
Two of these bills (SB 91 and SB 397) will be heard on Monday, March 9th at 10am.
One of these bills (HB 5505) will be heard on Wednesday, March 11th at 10:00am.
If you can give oral testimony on Zoom, please do so and submit written testimony too!
See the links below for submitting written testimony and registering to give oral testimony.
****************************************************************H.B. No. 5505 AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF CERTAIN COMMERCIAL WAREHOUSES FOR THE HOUSING AND SHELTER OF PERSONS.
This bill will give towns the ability to regulate whether and how warehouses can be converted into detention centers. It requires a public hearing for any application and sets forth conditions for humane treatment of detainees in these facilities, including beds, showers, drinking water, heating and cooling systems, etc. It also requires notice to adjacent landowners of any proposed use of a warehouse to house humans.
Consider in your testimony: This bill creates a meaningful check on the use of Connecticut properties as makeshift detention facilities by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or any other entity that would warehouse human beings in conditions unfit for habitation. By regulating how these spaces may be used under state law, Connecticut joins other states in asserting that its property codes, health regulations, and human rights principles apply — and that no federal enforcement priority overrides the basic obligation to treat people humanely while on Connecticut soil.
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S.B. No. 91 (COMM) AN ACT ENHANCING THE INVESTIGATIVE AUTHORITY OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL AND ESTABLISHING PROTECTED AREAS.
This bill will prevent ICE from picking up people in certain “protected areas.”
Protected areas are defined to include schools, medical facilities, houses of worship, places where children gather (including, but not limited to, playgrounds, recreation centers, child care centers, before or after-school), care centers, foster care facilities, group homes, social services establishments and places where there is an ongoing parade, demonstration or rally. It also includes the parking lots and garages surrounding the buildings.
Consider in your testimony: This bill will hopefully stop ICE from detaining people without a judicial warrant and picking them up as they enter or leave a school, church, hospital, etc. We have seen ICE detaining people as they drop off or pick up their children at school which has kept children home from school. We have seen ICE pick up people at food pantries which has caused people to go without food. We have heard of people no longer going to church or to seek medical care.****************************************************************
S.B. No. 397 (RAISED) AN ACT CONCERNING DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY.
This bill provides mechanisms for the State of Connecticut to hold accountable any “bad actors” including representatives of the Federal government. It does this by allowing parties who have been harmed to bring civil lawsuits against parties who violate our State laws. It strengthens existing laws by providing this remedy.
Consider in your testimony: In the aftermath of the horrible behavior of ICE agents, including murder, that we have witnessed nationally, the ability to sue these agents will hopefully act as a deterrent. No one should be above the law. ****************************************************************
Form for Submitting Written Testimony
How to Complete Written Testimony Form SB91, SB397
How to Complete Written Testimony Form HB5505
Register to Give Oral Testimony on Warehouse Bill March 11