DOJ sues Connecticut over sanctuary policies and ICE obstruction

The Department of Justice filed suit Monday against the State of Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, the City of New Haven, and Mayor Justin Elicker, arguing that state and local sanctuary policies are obstructing federal immigration enforcement and putting public safety at risk.

At the center of the lawsuit is Connecticut’s so-called “Trust Act,” along with related policies and guidance from the state and New Haven officials. According to the complaint, the laws and directives restrict state and local cooperation with federal immigration authorities, including limits on honoring ICE detainers, sharing release information, and allowing federal officials access to illegal immigrants in custody.

The DOJ argues that those policies are not merely political gestures but active interference with federal law. In the filing, the government says Connecticut’s rules are preempted by the Supremacy Clause and unlawfully frustrate Congress’s immigration enforcement framework. The complaint also alleges that the state’s policies have resulted in dangerous offenders being released back into Connecticut communities instead of being transferred to federal custody.

“For years, Connecticut communities have paid the price of these misguided sanctuary policies,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate of the DOJ’s Civil Division said in a statement. “This lawsuit seeks to end such open defiance of federal law.”

According to the complaint, ICE has issued more than 3,000 civil immigration detainers in Connecticut since 2020, with fewer than 20 percent honored. The filing further claims that Hartford’s Enforcement and Removal Operations office has tracked hundreds of active detainers dating back years, while less than half of inmates were securely transferred to federal custody.

Federal prosecutors pointed to several examples they say show the real-world consequences of the state’s refusal to cooperate. In one case cited in the complaint, Connecticut corrections officials allegedly refused to honor a detainer for an alien convicted of sexually assaulting two children, forcing ICE officers to arrest him later in the community after his release from prison.

The lawsuit also takes aim at a March 2026 guidance memo issued by Tong’s office, which instructed that personnel are generally not required to disclose non-public information, including immigration status, without a judicial warrant or subpoena. The DOJ says that guidance, combined with the Trust Act, effectively blocks the information-sharing Congress explicitly protected under federal law.

New Haven’s 2020 executive order is also under challenge. The DOJ says Mayor Justin Elicker’s directive bars city employees from assisting federal immigration enforcement, prohibits them from inquiring into immigration status, and punishes employees who violate the order. Federal lawyers argue that the policy singles out immigration authorities for adverse treatment and unlawfully interferes with federal operations. The complaint asks the court to declare the Trust Act, the state’s immigration guidance, and New Haven’s executive order unlawful, and to permanently block their enforcement.

The Connecticut case is the latest in a broader DOJ campaign targeting sanctuary jurisdictions across the country, including Minnesota, Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, New York State, Colorado, Illinois, Rochester, and several cities in New Jersey.