by Donald Eng The New Haven independent
HARTFORD, CT — A wide-ranging bill aiming to place limits on federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents was expected to pass the state Senate Tuesday, albeit not before a lengthy and partisan debate.
Senate Bill 397, An Act Concerning Democracy and Government Accountability, would give residents the ability to sue federal officials that violate their constitutional rights, bar law enforcement officials from wearing masks, prohibits ICE arrests in protected areas like schools, hospitals and houses of worship and places limits on automated license plate readers’ data storage.
“After the murder of Renee Good in Minneapolis in early January, Senate Democrats vowed that we’d work on legislation to prevent these types of ICE abuses in Connecticut,” said Majority Leader Bon Duff, D-Norwalk. “Today we’re keeping that promise.”
Duff said Senate staff had researched the legal issues for months and that they were “as airtight as you can get.”
Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding speaks about a bill limiting ICE actions in Connecticut on April 14, 2026 at the State Capitol in Hartford, CT. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Republican leader Stephen Harding of Brookfield, in a media gathering immediately following the Democratic briefing, said virtually all of the components in the bill were irrelevant because they would immediately be found in violation of the Supremacy Clause. The Supremacy Clause is a provision in the U.S. Constitution that the constitution, laws made pursuant to it and treaties supersede conflicting state laws.
“This is nothing more than an anti-cop bill,” he said. “Everything in the bill relating to ICE is absolutely superfluous. It’s Constitutional Law 101 … you cannot override the federal government. It’s that simple.”
Harding used the example of the state’s Trust Act, which restricts the cooperation between state officials and federal immigration agents. The Trust Act, though, places limits on state and local employees, not federal ones, he said.
Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven, disputed that saying the Democratic proposal was on solid legal ground.
“We know the federal Department of Justice has lost in a number of their lawsuits that they have brought since the Trump administration came into effect. We believe they’ll lose on this one as well,” he said. “We’re confident this bill will survive court scrutiny. It’ll be attacked. They’ll be seeking to undermine on the part of the federal government, but we believe it’ll be upheld.”
Senate Minority Leader Bob Duff speaks about a bill limiting ICE actions in Connecticut on April 14, 2026 at the State Capitol in Hartford, CT. Credit: Donald Eng / CTnewsJunkie
Duff added that the caucus had taken pains to craft a bill that would survive legal scrutiny.
“We wanted to put together a bill that would work and that would pass a court challenge,” he said. “We’ll see what happens, but we have not intentionally swung for the fences. We have excellent lawyers working for the Senate Democrats, but we also have worked with the attorney general’s office and the governor’s office as well, and everybody signed off on it.”
Asked if any proposals had been discussed but dropped as being legally shaky, Looney said previous drafts had included a prohibition on standing armies or forces from other states being ordered into Connecticut.
“We removed that,” he said.
The Senate convened shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday, and the bill was expected to be debated into the night. But Democratic leaders said their caucus was united behind it, which would give it more than enough support in the chamber that Democrats control 25-11.
“After passing in the Senate, SB 397 will be debated and passed in the House of Representatives and signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont,” according to a written statement from the caucus.
Most of the bill’s provisions would go into effect immediately upon passage, the exception being the prohibition on law enforcement of any level arresting people for civil offenses in protected areas. That section would take effect Oct. 1.