ACLU-CT Reaction to ICE Attempt to Seize Man at Derby Courthouse

HARTFORD – Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents today entered the Derby, Connecticut courthouse in an attempt to seize Domar Shearer, an Ansonia man, for deportation. The following is a reaction from David McGuire, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut:

“Today, activists with Unidad Latina en Acción were able to protect a Connecticut man from being seized by ICE at a Connecticut courthouse, and they never should have had to do so. ICE should not be in Connecticut’s courthouses, and it should not have been in the Derby courthouse today. When ICE uses courthouses as hunting grounds for deportation, they are undermining public safety and justice, and they are hurting our communities. Today’s is the most recent example of ICE jeopardizing safety and justice by attempting to deport people in and around Connecticut courthouses. It is long past time for the Connecticut Judicial Branch, including judicial marshals, to start standing up for safety and justice by adopting the policies, procedures, and rules necessary to keep ICE out of Connecticut courthouses, and the legislature must do its part to ensure the same.”