Cabrera: State Should Rein In ICE

by Paul Bass

Connecticut doesn’t have to stand by watching federal immigration agents terrorize communities. It can take action.

So argues State Sen. Jorge Cabrera, who said he’s working with colleagues at the legislature this term to pass laws to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents accountable for their actions.

Cabrera, a Democrat, represents the 17th State Senate District. That includes parts of Hamden, where he and other officials responded to help families affected by an ICE raid at a car wash.

“They said we’re going to go after the worst of the worst, the criminals, the cartel leaders. Clearly, you’re not finding these kind of folks at Home Depot parking lots and on farms” or the car wash, Cabrera observed during a conversation Thursday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven. “There’s rogue agents all over the place. It’s not working. It’s hurting business. It’s hurting our communities.”

He said he supports efforts this legislative session to bar agents from schools and houses of worship, require them to use body cameras, and ban them from wearing masks.

“We’re seeing state violence on a level that I have not seen in my lifetime. We should know who these people are. It should be clearly identifiable,” Cabrera argued.

He said that acocuntability should extend to enabling state residents to sue agents for civil rights violations.

The Trump administration has argued that the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause prevents states from allowing people to sue federal agents.

Asked about that, Cabrera responded, “We’re at a point where we have to take action and not think so much about whether it will be upheld in a federal court of law, because we’re at a point where we have to protect our communities.”

During the “Dateline” conversation, Cabrera casts those ICE-related proposals as part of a broader goal this session to respond to actions by the Trump administration.

He spoke of the $71 million in emergency money set aside to help people no longer able to afford Obamacare because of the expiration of federal subsidies. More money will be needed to cover the families affected, Cabrera said. Meanwhile, in his role as co-chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Committee, he plans to work with colleagues to explore longer-term fixes to bring down health care costs and prevent double-digit annual insurance hikes. He said he didn’t currently subscribe to any specific plan. The committee will dive into proposals such as one to create a “public option” that enables more businesses and individuals to buy into state group plans that can negotiate lower rates.

The challenge of responding to budget cuts and policy dictates from Washington helped inspire his decision to seek a fourth two-year term this year, Cabrera said.

“We’re living in the Trump era, where so many things are being eroded that we took for granted. Mores, laws are being violated. I think we need to be united as possible to fight back all over society against this fascist attempt to take over our country,” he said. “We’re living in exciting times, challenging times. They’re scary times at times. But we’re living in times of lots of motion and lots of change, and I want to be a part of that change.”

Click on the video at the top of the story to watch the full conversation on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” with State Sen. Jorge Cabrera. Click here to subscribe or here to listen to other episodes of “Dateline New Haven.”