Blumenthal Calls on DHS Inspector General to Investigate ICE Tactics Following Surge Targeting Connecticut Residents at Schools, Workplaces

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) wrote Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Joseph Cuffari seeking “ a formal investigation into the recent surge of [Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)] arrests and activity in Connecticut.” The surge has focused on Danbury and nearby towns, where people have been targeted dropping their children off at school and going to work. “In one of the largest immigration operations in Connecticut history, ICE agents reportedly apprehended nearly 100 individuals — many of whom likely have legal status and no apparent serious criminal history — throughout the course of just one week in August,” Blumenthal wrote. “Individuals observed: an ICE agent kicking and tasing a man while other agents were on top of him, sending the man to the hospital; ICE agents breaking car windows; removing detainees in chains; blocking attorney access to detainees in Hartford; the deployment of masked agents to locations that children frequent in Danbury, including parks, an elementary school, and a daycare center; the detention of a father walking his child to a bus stop; and a threat by ICE agents to pepper spray a man detained in front of a preschool.” Earlier this week, Blumenthal attended Hartford Immigration Court to observe the court’s operations and demand oversight and accountability if the proper legal processes are not being followed. Last week, Blumenthal wrote Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin and the Acting Director of ICE David Venturella requesting a meeting and demanding information about a dramatic increase in immigration enforcement activity in Connecticut. The full text of Blumenthal’s letter to Mullin and Venturella is available here . Blumenthal also hosted a public forum to receive testimony from the Danbury community about ICE’s destructive and indiscriminate detentions. Blumenthal was joined by Mayor Roberto Alves; attorney Glenn Formica with the American Legal Immigrant Clinic; and members of Danbury United for Immigrants. As Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Blumenthal has led an investigation into DHS’s abuses. Over the last year, Blumenthal and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, have hosted four public forums on Capitol Hill as part of their ongoing inquiry into the lawless and abusive tactics used by federal immigration agents. The full text of Blumenthal’s letter to Cuffari is available here and copied below. Dear Inspector General Cuffari, Over the past several months, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has engaged in increased enforcement activity in communities across the United States. [1] Two weeks ago, this surge came to Connecticut, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) agents fanned out across towns in Connecticut, sowing fear, engaging in violent and threatening tactics, and detaining residents in the presence of their own children. [2] These troubling tactics follow similar reports from communities across the nation and come in the wake of two recent shooting deaths by immigration agents in Maine and Houston, Texas. [3] Given these troubling reports and the irreparable harm that DHS’s actions are having on communities in our nation, I write to request that you initiate a formal investigation into the recent surge of ICE arrests and activity in Connecticut. In one of the largest immigration operations in Connecticut history, ICE agents reportedly apprehended nearly 100 individuals — many of whom likely have legal status and no apparent serious criminal history — throughout the course of just one week in August. [4] Individuals observed: an ICE agent kicking and tasing a man while other agents were on top of him, sending the man to the hospital; [5] ICE agents breaking car windows; removing detainees in chains; blocking attorney access to detainees in Hartford; [6] the deployment of masked agents to locations that children frequent in Danbury, including parks, an elementary school, and a daycare center; [7] the detention of a father walking his child to a bus stop; [8] and a threat by ICE agents to pepper spray a man detained in front of a preschool. [9] Nationwide reporting indicates that this surge in Connecticut follows similar increases in ICE enforcement across the country, which led to the arrests of nearly 50,000 individuals in July alone, the highest single monthly total since President Trump returned to office. [10] This summer, ICE has arrested more immigrants without a criminal conviction than at any other point during this administration. [11] This surge in enforcement activity is especially concerning in the wake of reports regarding ICE’s failure to properly vet new agents and officers who may be carrying out these enforcement operations. According to recent reporting, a whistleblower within DHS has raised serious concerns regarding the systemic breakdown of ICE’s vetting of agents, abbreviated training programs, and the fast-tracking of unqualified candidates before they even pass basic fingerprint, identity, or credit checks. [12] These concerns closely mirror testimony that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (“PSI”) heard earlier this year from a former ICE Academy instructor, who disclosed that ICE had drastically reduced its training requirements and testified that the ICE Basic Immigration Enforcement Training Program is “deficient, defective, and broken.” [13] As the deployment of ICE agents to communities across America continues to surge and place residents at risk — including deployments like those recently seen in Connecticut — I request that your office promptly initiate a full, fair, and impartial investigation into DHS’s recent enforcement activity including: Whether DHS is currently employing a quota system or other metrics that dictate goals for daily or monthly arrests of immigrants that must be met. How ICE is identifying and targeting individuals for arrest, and what steps it is taking, if any, to prioritize those with serious criminal backgrounds. Whether any of the enforcement operations in Connecticut were undertaken in sensitive locations or in other locations where children were either present or where children are known to frequent. Whether any of those detained during recent enforcement activities in Connecticut were U.S. Citizens or held any other legal status, and what steps agents took to ensure that those with legal status were not detained. Whether any detained individuals in Connecticut were injured during the course of ICE’s operations. Whether DHS or ICE received any complaints, formal or otherwise, against ICE agents for use of force during operations in Connecticut or in any other state since January 1, 2026. To the extent that complaints have been lodged, please thoroughly investigate all allegations, as well as the extent to which DHS properly implemented any necessary punishment for misconduct. Whether ICE agents involved in operations were following protocol for the use of body cameras during enforcement operations in Connecticut. Thank you for your attention to this matter. -30- [1] See Rebecca Santana et al., ICE Arrests Jumped to Nearly 50,000 in July, the Highest Monthly Total of Trump’s Second Term , AP News (Aug. 25, 2026, at 15:37 ET), https://apnews.com/article/border-immigration-customs-enforcement-data-statistics-f07f56a34bda225e5afa356781ac1740. [2] Kaitlin McCallum, Dozens Detained as ICE Hits Connecticut Cities: ‘A Week of Terror’ , Hartford Courant (Aug. 29, 2026, at 05:00 ET), https://www.courant.com/2026/08/29/dozens-detained-as-ice-hits-connecticut-cities-a-week-of-terror/. [3] CJ Gardner & Helen Coster, ICE Agent Fatally Shoots Driver in Maine, Six Days After Similar Death in Texas , Reuters (July 13, 2026, at 09:31 ET), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/person-killed-ice-involved-shooting-maine-media-reports-2026-07-13/. [4] Katy Golvala, In Danbury, Sen. Blumenthal Hears ‘Emotional’ Accounts of ICE Operation , CT Mirror (Sep. 3, 2026, at 16:30 ET), https://ctmirror.org/2026/09/03/danbury-accounts-immigration-enforcement/; see also Joshua Eaton, ICE Reportedly Arrested Nearly 100 People Across Connecticut This Week: What We Know and Don’t Know , CT Insider (Aug. 29, 2026), https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/ice-arrests-danbury-bridgeport-22408246.php. [5] Joshua Eaton, ICE Agent Uses Taser During Danbury Arrest, Sending Man to Hospital , CT Insider (Aug. 27, 2026), https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/danbury-ct-ice-arrests-chris-murphy-ned-lamont-22405935.php. [6] Golvala, supra note 4. [7] Ryan J. Foley & Russ Bynum, ICE Operation in Connecticut Highlights How Arrests Are Rising Even in Blue States , AP News, (Aug. 27, 2026, at 16:13 ET), https://apnews.com/article/dhs-ice-connecticut-danbury-arrests-immigration-d8695bbb883591669accaf266e8bb6a9. [8] Id. [9] Eaton, supra note 4. [10] See Santana et al., supra note 1; see also Rebecca Beitsch, Trump Administration Expands Mass Deportations with Noncriminals , The Hill (Sep. 6, 2026, at 17:00 ET), https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6072318-ice-arrests-surge-non-criminals/. [11] Id. [12] Alexandra Berzon, Katie Benner & Hamed Aleaziz, ICE Skipped Basic Checks in Rush for Recruits, Whistle-Blower Says , NY Times (Sep. 3, 2026), https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/us/ice-recruits-national-security-risk-whistleblower.html. [13] Our Values at Stake (Part III): Terrorizing Communities Without Warrants and No Restraint: Public Forum Before the S. Permanent Subcomm. on Investigations and H. Comm. on Oversight and Gov’t Reform , 119th Cong. (2026) (testimony of Ryan Schwank), https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-and-robert-garcia-receive-testimony-about-ice-abuses-from-whistleblower-us-citizen-whose-rights-were-violated_former-top-lawyer-at-dhs.