U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal hosted a town hall forum at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury Thursday to gather public testimony following a sudden, massive surge in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainments across the state.
Before the public forum, Blumenthal met privately with local families who have been directly impacted by the recent federal immigration actions in Danbury.
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“These kinds of heartbreaking stories are also about injustice, the purposeful creation of fear, even terror," Blumenthal said, sharply criticizing the federal agency's tactics. "Cruelty seems to be the point of many of these ICE practices.”
Community members and advocates also voiced heavy criticism during the discussion.
One panelist at the forum stated that the "cruel and excessive use of force by federal agents in Danbury and across the country this week would itself be a crime at any other time in our history."