On Dec. 10, some 150 people marched to the federal building in Hartford, CT, to demand an end to immigration raids. Activists were upset about the arrest of 21 Brazilian immigrants in early November in the city's Parkville neighborhood in a joint operation between local police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Local police said they had asked ICE to help them search for a Brazilian man being sought on attempted murder and robbery charges. They didn't find the suspect, but ICE picked up 21 other people suspected of being in the US without permission.

The march was sponsored by more than a dozen organizations, including Stop the Raids, a Trinity College-based group; People of Faith; and the Connecticut chapter of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Luis Cotto and Larry Deutsch, elected to the Hartford city council in November as members of the Working Families Party, both attended the march and said they would push for policies that limit when local police can inquire about immigration status. (Hartford Courant, Dec. 11)

From Immigration News Briefs, Dec. 16

See our last posts on the immigration crackdown and the struggle in Hartford.