Ceremonial inauguration held in Rye for Rep. George Latimer

Power & Politics: President Trump's first week in office; 2026 state budget breakdown

Power & Politics: The battle over birthright citizenship

Free immigration clinic in Brentwood aims to ease fears, educate families

Bridgeport attorney: ICE agents need warrant to conduct raids

NJ Education Department updates protocols on dealing with immigration agents

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News 12 Staff

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I'm Mark Sudall. Welcome back to Power and Politics. Well, the Trump administration is taking aim at so-called sanctuary cities. Some of them are right here in Connecticut. The Justice Department is directing federal prosecutors to investigate state and local officials who stand in the way of beefed up immigration enforcement. That's according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press. Connecticut's Trust Act limits when police can share information with federal immigration authorities. The Trust Act says anybody is criminal, anybody committed a felony, anybody who's a danger to the community, we work with anybody to make sure they get off the streets. Now the Trump administration will also allow immigration raids at churches and schools, but some districts are vowing to shield their students. As President Trump cracks down on immigrants in the US, Connecticut families are wondering if their children are safe at school. Trump's administration announced ICE would be able to conduct searches in schools, churches, and hospitals. Bridgeport Public Schools says it has guidelines to protect its students in case this happens, including a visitor protocol, immigration enforcement restrictions, and student privacy protections. Immigration attorney Alex Mayorvis joins us now on the show. Thanks so much for being with us. Thank you, Mark. Well, the, the scariest scenario I think has to be is seeing children being pulled out of schools by ICE agents. Will that happen here in Connecticut? Well, the rumor is that it might, uh, how plausible it is and whether it's gonna happen, it remains to be seen, but the fact that this idea is in the air is pretty horrifying. Uh, it's devastating to the, uh, personnel at the school, to the teachers, because suddenly they will have to confront the armed man and trying to figure out what to do. Uh, the practical implication of this announcement, Connecticut doesn't have that many ICE agents, so obviously if uh Trump administration decides to send, uh, ICE agents to public schools it's gonna be just uh for the show of force to teach a lesson. Uh, and yes, it's, it, it doesn't sound good at all. Now Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is prepared to protect sanctuary cities in our state. Will the churches and sanctuary places still be able to provide any kind of safety? They can try, but again, nothing prevents ICE agents to enter those facilities whether it's a church or a hospital or a school, and ultimately it's going to be, uh, it may end up to be a standoff. And the uh local police is gonna be in the middle of it. The administrators of the hospital administrators of the school's gonna be in the middle of it, but talking about the kids, uh, this is not a drill. If it comes down to kids being detained, we're talking about elementary school kids, uh, we're talking about middle school kids, high school kids, and, uh, that's horrifying, and that's, I, I just can't imagine how it's gonna. Uh, come down. What? There's gonna be buses. There's gonna be trains, deportation trains for the kids, and this is just that the whole idea is, uh, is, is awful. Yeah, uh, what are you hearing from immigrants and, and how can you help them? People are worried. People are scared, uh, I do get a lot of calls from, uh, local community and people ask me what to do. Is it gonna happen? Uh, what steps should we take to, uh, to prevent this from happening? Unfortunately there's nothing they can do. I do advise people have a Plan B, make sure that kids have a caregiver. If the parent gets detained or both parents get detained and they're subject now to mandatory detention, someone has to pick up the kids from school. Someone has to make arrangements for the kids, long term arrangements potentially. And uh I tell people know your options, know your rights, what to do, what not to do. Local commun uh community leaders are spreading uh leaflets saying what to do if you're confronted by ICE agents. Some of it it's true, some of it's not true because different circumstances, uh, but definitely don't talk to a stranger. That's what my mother always tells me if someone approaches on the street and says, What's your name? say nothing if you don't know the man, don't answer. Uh, don't wave your passport. The moment they say, hey, you Jose Torres, no, I'm such and such. I'm from Ecuador. OK, great. Now we established that you're from Ecuador. You come with us, so be vigilant, make sure blinkers work. You have registration up to date. You have a driver license. You don't speed. You don't you stop at the traffic light, uh, obviously don't drink and drive, stay in line that will increase your chances of staying under the radar because even if the local police gets involved or gets deputized, they don't know you are an immigrant if you're driving on the street, but if you're pulled over for some sort of violation and they run your name against the ICE database, they find out you're here without the status, you, you might become subject to a detention. Now you can understand certainly people who have been criminals and convicted of crimes and so forth, but now one of the president's executive orders that he signed this week was about citizenship, right? And now that quickly was now overturned, but, but. We didn't really think that that was gonna go forward. It's completely crazy. It's bonkers. Yesterday I got a call from a long term, uh, a permanent resident in the United States who had children born years ago, uh, kids are adults now, and he called to consult with me. What's gonna happen to my kids? Is this, uh, executive action going to have retroactive effect? Uh, no one knows the answer. Uh, ultimately will come down to the Supreme Court whether it's gonna be, uh, in 2 years, it's gonna be in 3 years, uh, but the Supreme Court will have to decide if this executive action holds any water, uh, you know, knowing how politicize the Supreme Court right now, who knows how it's gonna come out on, on its surface, uh, the way the, uh, amend the constitutional amendment is written, executive order doesn't have any, any power, doesn't have any force. But again, we live in a strange world. We don't know how it's all gonna pan out so best advice is just be prepared, be prepared, always be prepared. Alex, thank you so much for the time. Thank you. I appreciate you being on the show as always. absolutely anytime. Thank you. All right, well, coming up, the battle over electric rates is heating up in the state capital.

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Well, this week in Hartford, Republicans unveiled their plan to bring down your electric bill, but will it actually save you money? Use 12 Connecticut's John Craven takes a look. It's so cold it hurts to stand outside, but the real pain could be when UI and Eversource send you your bill next month. State lawmakers say they want to lower it, but so far we've just heard a lot of finger pointing. And not a lot of new ideas. Wednesday, Republicans pulled out a blank easel. They say it's the Democrats' energy plan. It was the legislative proposal equivalent to Seinfeld. It was a bill about nothing, but the GOP is pitching the same proposal as last year. It takes aim at the public benefits charge on your bill, which includes conservation and renewable energy fees. Republicans also targeting electric vehicle rebates. They want both removed. The average resident in Connecticut rather is paying roughly $40,000 a year in public benefits charges. That's unfair. Instead, Republicans want to cap how much Connecticut pays for wholesale electricity. Which could put wind power out of reach. They also want more natural gas, but without more pipeline capacity, Connecticut is already maxed out. Democrats called GOP lawmakers disingenuous and noted that most of last summer's increase went to the Millstone nuclear plant. 77% of the public benefits charge is from the Millstone deal that the Republicans. Pushed and initiated. OK, so there is some good news. By May and June, some of these charges will drop on their own, but by then we won't be talking about bone chilling cold but sweltering heat. John Craven, News 12, Connecticut. Well, that's all our time. I'm Mark Sudall. Thanks for watching.

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Ben Proto, the chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, and immigration attorney Alex Meyerovich join the show.

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