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Activists demand CT officials enforce the Trust Act

Meriden City Councilor Yvette Cortez speaks during a Rally Against ICE outside the Meriden Courthouse on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

By Sasha Allen and Laura TillmanPublished Oct 1, 2026, 8:06 PMUpdated Oct 2, 20267 min read

Meriden City Councilor Yvette Cortez speaks during a Rally Against ICE outside the Meriden Courthouse on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

" data-large-file="https://ctmirror.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/MERIDEN-RALLY-1001-SG-06-771x578.jpg" /> More than 100 people gathered across the street from the Meriden courthouse Thursday evening with a list of demands for state officials, including strengthening the Trust Act and its enforcement and $50 million in legal support for those affected by immigration enforcement.

The rally came as a response to an arrest at the courthouse on Sept. 23, which raised questions about the legality of ICE’s actions under the state’s Trust Act and other laws. The federal agents were masked and at the courthouse with an administrative, not judicial, warrant — potentially in violation of the law.

Activists and local politicians who spoke at the rally urged the state to enforce and strengthen the Trust Act, create uniform protocol for how state and local officers should interact with ICE, and investigate any possible collusion between ICE and state court marshals and police. Some also questioned the legality of actions taken by court marshals during last week’s arrest.

The rally was organized by a coalition of activists and attended by groups from across the state, including Middlesex Immigrant Rights Alliance, Danbury Unites for Immigrants, Middlesex Indivisible, Hartford Deportation Defense and CT 50501.

Organizer Miguel Castro, with MIRA, speaks during a Rally Against ICE outside the Meriden Courthouse on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

“All of us are familiar with the Trust Act and the highlights of what it stands for,” Miguel Castro, an organizer of the event and the second vice chair of the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus and member of MIRA, said. “They write the law, and now one thing is to implement it.”

Attendees chanted “shame” as speakers recalled the events of last week’s courthouse arrest, including the pepper-spraying of an activist and the masks worn into the courthouse by ICE agents. Many held up signs. Some read “melt ICE” and “due process for all.”

Attendees scream “ICE Out” during a Rally Against ICE outside the Meriden Courthouse on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

Meriden council member Yvette Cortez spoke at the rally, urging attendees to fight with love for their community. She said that after the ICE activity last week, the state responded with a shared upset felt by some in the community.

“I’m really grateful that the governor and his office immediately took up phone calls, shared in our outrage, and also agreed to do an investigation,” Cortez said. “Some of the videos indicate that the marshals acted in violation of the Trust Act. I don’t want to make any assumptions, not having been there, not having seen everything, but I do have an expectation that a thorough investigation is completed. I hope that the results of that investigation will be shared with the residents of Meriden, and I hope that anybody who violated it will be held accountable to the fullest extent.”

Cortez said the state police were looking into possible violations of the law, including actions taken by court marshals that may have allowed ICE agents to conduct the arrest in the courthouse without the proper documentation.

The ACLU of Connecticut told the Connecticut Mirror in a statement that, after administrative review by the organization, there is still an “open question” if last week’s courthouse arrest violated state law.

An attendee holds a hand painted umbrella during a Rally Against ICE outside the Meriden Courthouse on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

Because the man arrested by ICE was never in state custody, the organization is unsure if the conduct of court marshals falls under the Trust Act — many of the provisions under the law only apply to people in state custody. The ACLU of Connecticut did obtain a copy of the administrative warrant — not judicial — used in last week’s arrest.

If the man had been in state custody — like a Connecticut prison — the Trust Act would not allow them to turn the man over to ICE with just an administrative warrant for his arrest.

“The administrative warrant ACLU-CT obtained in connection with last Wednesday’s Meriden courthouse arrest raises more questions than it answers,” a statement from David McGuire, Executive Director for the ACLU-CT, read. “Rather than providing clarity, it leaves Connecticut’s immigrant community more vulnerable and uncertain of how protected they are in Connecticut.”

In the statement, McGuire also stressed the need to enforce state law.

“Last week’s events show that protections on paper only matter if they hold up in practice and are truly enforceable,” McGuire said in the statement. “Together, the Meriden courthouse attack and these incoming protections create an urgent need for state agencies and legislators to review our existing protections and enforcement options, and ACLU-CT will continue working with partners and legislators to make sure all Connecticut residents are truly protected and feel safe where they live.”

Castro and Cortez said the state was complying with their requests to initiate an investigation. During the rally, speakers thanked Gov. Ned Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz for “standing up against ICE.”

“We haven’t had any pushback from our state officials, including the governor and the lieutenant governor, who have been instrumental and critical, especially when initiating the investigation and supporting our efforts to protect members of our community,” Castro said.

A request for comment from ICE after the Meriden arrest went unanswered.

The rally follows a press conference Thursday morning, when advocates and elected officials discussed new protections and cuts to services going into effect Oct. 1 that affect the state’s immigrant community.

The new state law that designates “protected areas” like hospitals, schools and places of worship went into effect Thursday, and refugees, asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking now are no longer eligible for Medicaid in Connecticut.

Sen. Matthew Lesser, D-Middletown, co-chair of the Human Services Committee, said that state lawmakers stepped up last legislative session.

“We are laser-focused on keeping our communities safe, and there is nothing that helps make our communities safe when you have federal agents poking around our schools, our churches and mosques and synagogues, our healthcare facilities and our courthouses,” he said.

Brothers Patrick Leonard, left, 15, and Andrew Leonard, 17, of Berlin, hold signs while attending a Rally Against ICE outside the Meriden Courthouse with their mother Michelle Leonard on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

But Lesser also also addressed the enforcement of the Trust Act and of the new laws.

“I think we are going to ask the tough questions of our judicial branch to see what they can and can’t do, and if we need to tweak the law going forward, we can do so,” Lesser said.

Rep. Hubert Delaney, D-Stamford, said that government officials and advocates “have a responsibility to make clear that due process, dignity and the rule of law are still the standard here in Connecticut.”

But even as the new law goes into effect, some immigrant families are being impacted by the loss of health coverage. Lesser said this will affect some 3,200 Connecticut residents, including:

“600 folks who are lawful refugees in this country, 400 folks who have asylum. We have 500 victims of Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine who are losing their health care today, and it should be no surprise that the man who used the resources of the federal government to try to protect Jeffrey Epstein and his friends has decided to take health care away from survivors of human trafficking. There are dozens of people in Connecticut who are survivors, documented survivors of human trafficking, who are going to lose their healthcare benefits in Connecticut today because of the actions of this administration.”

On Thursday morning, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called it “fiscally stupid,” because it will keep people from getting preventative care.

“What an abomination, that we are cutting off healthcare for people that are legal residents of our community,” he said at a press conference in the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. “It betrays the very nature of what it means to be American.”

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