“Very few of them, only a fraction, maybe six or seven, have any kind of criminal history. In fact, they are seizing people. Many of them have legal status in this country.
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ICE Arrests Parents at Danbury School Bus Stops in the First Week of School — Waiting Until the Kids Were on the Bus — and Connecticut’s Governor Says Trump Promised Governors He Would Not Do This
August 26, 2026
Over three days in late August 2026, as Danbury, Connecticut schools opened for the year, ICE agents detained close to 50 people in the city — 16 on Monday, at least nine on Tuesday and 25 on Wednesday, according to the advocacy group Danbury Unites for Immigrants. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said agents were arresting parents at school bus stops and had waited until children boarded the buses, so the children would return in the afternoon to find their parents gone. On August 26, Murphy joined Gov. Ned Lamont, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT-05), Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves at Kennedy Park to condemn the operation. Lamont said Trump had personally told a gathering of governors earlier in the year that ICE would not be sent into cities that had not asked for help. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), traveling in Ukraine, issued a written statement. DHS rejected the mayor's allegation of racial profiling, said ICE "does not target schools," and said the operation had arrested people convicted of assault, weapons offenses, sexual assault, molestation of a minor and DUI. The Danbury operation is part of a documented rise in ICE arrests in states that did not request federal enforcement.
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“The folks doing it the right way are also getting deported. We can't stand for that any more. We're fed up with what we're seeing.
“Congress should not authorize a single additional dollar for ICE while this illegality continues.
“ICE's cruelty and craven brutality has no limit. Snatching people off the streets as they walk their children to school or wait for a ride to work — such tactics are abusive, abhorrent, and illegal.
“This morning in Danbury, ICE was arresting parents at school bus stops. But it’s more sinister. ICE waited until the kids were on the bus so when they are dropped off at the end of the day, they are alone, scared to death they can’t find their parents.
“ICE is not here to protect Danbury. ICE is here to put Danbury into a state of terror.
“What I would hate to see is a snowball effect where a parent is detained, and a child goes into state custody.
“I promise you that I will work as hard as I can to keep your families safe, but once you gave me a seat at the table, it means you don't want me yelling in the window. It means you want me at those tables, doing the job that you sent me to do.
“I just want to start by saying we're all on the same side. None of us want what we are seeing.
“At a convening of governors earlier this year, after the tragic results of ICE's presence in Minneapolis, President Trump told us he would not be sending ICE into cities that did not ask for the help. Let me be clear: Connecticut does not want, nor do we need, the type of presence ICE has had in our state this week.
“We are now seeing racial profiling, random people being picked up off the streets right here at this park, bringing back memories of a time in this city that we want to forget about
“ICE has increased enforcement and stepped up its tactics with an intentional brutality you have all seen. This isn’t a coincidence; this is intentional.