5,000 in Connecticut protest racist ICE ACCESS program

On Feb. 6, as the Danbury, Conn. City Council voted on a program allowing close collaboration between ICE and

Danbury police, a crowd of 5,000 immigrants and allies rallied outside.  

The program, known as ICE ACCESS, would institute Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, permitting Danbury police to act as immigration agents.  

The crowd was much larger than expected. It was one of the largest immigrant rights demonstrations in the city’s history. In addition to thousands of people from the immigrant community in Danbury, buses traveled from Hartford and many carpools came from all over the state. The local Brazilian and Ecuadorian communities mobilized heavily for the demonstration.

Immigrant-owned businesses all over Danbury also shut down for the day to protest the vote on implementing 287(g).

As part of the coalition that initiated the demonstration, the Greater Danbury Partnership for Unity, the Connecticut Chapter of the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) mobilized for and participated in the demonstration.