CT Rallies for Families Over Billionaires

 

150 union workers, students, immigrant rights and community activists gathered with Connecticut for All outside New Haven's Brennan Rogers School, closing due to lack of funds, with a clear message: the Governor and Legislature must stand up for working families now.

The national day of action to put Families First over Billionaires was initiated by Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The massive cut to human needs wee accompanied by huge increases in funds for mass deporations and wars.

“We choose families not corporations. We will not be divided, and We Will not Back Down,” said emcee Seth Freeman president of SEIU Local 1973 – 4C's, calling on the legislature and governor to hold a speciall session “to stand up and protect Connecticut residents from death and destruction coming from the Trump administration. and increase taxes on the ultra wealthy by implementing the Finance Committee’s progressive revenue proposals.”

Healthcare workes, students and immigrant youth spoke passionately of the harms these cuts will bring to them and their communities.

“Hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents will be directly harmed by these cuts, but ultimately every resident in our state will be harmed, because gutting and shredding the social safety net hurts all of us,” said Freeman.

“Our message to every legislator in our state, is that if you are not in favor of raising revenue – raising state taxes on the same individuals that Trump just gave a tax break to - then you are supporting Donald Trump’s agenda.” he said to loud applause.

“Our message is that if you are not going to stand up now – while ICE is terrorizing our communities, abducting mothers in front of their children – then when are you going to stand up?

'Our message is that if you not going to stand up now – while Yale New Haven and CT Children’s Hospital announced cutting youth gender-affirming care - then when are you going to stand up?”

Families First rallies were held in ten Connecticut towns.

Demands Grow: Bring Esdras Home. ICE Out of CT

 

Last week 18 year old Wilbur Cross High School student and Students for a Dream activist Esdras R. became the latest victim of ICE abduction in New Haven, taken by masked men in unmarked uniforms and cars. Fellow students, educators and city officials are taking legal action and organizing a movement to Bring Esdras Home.

In each abduction case, no required court order has been shown, as the individuals have been “disappeared” to the horror of their family and community.

Esdras was abducted by federal immigration agents while at work. It took days for his principal to discover that he was taken to a detention facility in Massachusetts, then moved to New Hampshire and was not possible to find again until he had been removed to Louisiana.

City officials, Unidad Latina en Accion and Connecticut Students for a Dream are organizing legal support, letters from teachers, and more. The students held a rally outside Wilbur Cross High School, with the support of the principal.

Speakers included his classmates, teachers, State Sen Gary Winfield, and clergy. All had tne same message: Esdras should be in school, not in a detention center far from home. A common commitment was made to stay together in unity until Esdras is returned home and all those detained are released, to uphold New Haven as a welcoming city, and remove ICE from New Haven and Connecticut. Contributions to a legal defense fund can be made at https://giving.classy.org/campaign/710739/donate

Mayor Justin Elicker and School Superintendent Negrón called the detention of Edras by ICE “unconscionable” describing him as a ​“hard working student and a fine young man.”

Edras submitted testimony to the state legislature to expand Husky health coverage, saying ​“This matters to me since I am an immigrant and I am one of the many people who do not have health insurance. We all deserve to live with well-being and without unnecessary suffering, and access to medical care is crucial for this.”

Last month in New Haven, masked ICE agents in unmarked cars seized mother and factory worker Nancy Martinez from her car while she was giving her children a ride to school. Her daughter spoke at a press conference saying “I need my mother,” as the demand was clearly placed “We don't want ICE in New Haven. ICE out of New Haven.”

After weeks in dentention, Martinez was flown in shackles and removed to Mexico, separated from her family.

In response to this expanding tactic by ICE, funded by he Billionaire Budget Betrayal, twenty four state senators sent a letter to the Connecticut Congressional delegation urging support for the “No Masks for ICE Act,” a bill by New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez that would bar ICE agents from wearing face coverings in public and require uniforms displaying their name and agency affiliation.

“One month ago, while masked and without any identification, ICE agents detained multiple Danbury residents outside the Danbury Judicial District building, with the incident appearing to witnesses like dozens of kidnappings.,” said said State Senator Julie Kushner.

“Seeing masked men grabbing people on our streets is very terrorizing - not just for the people being detained, but for the general public as well. It’s reminiscent of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany. In my opinion, Congress cannot pass this bill soon enough.”

A companion bill introduced into the US Senate by Senators Alex Padilla and Corey Booker with 12 co-sponsors including Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

The same illegal tactics are being deployed in towns across the country. People's World article, “ICE agents arrest Oregon doctor as he drops off kid at preschool,” reports a similar case at Guidepost Montessori school in Beaverton, Oregon .

“Dr. Mahdi Khanbabazadeh, 38, a chiropractor, was driving to drop off his kid at Guidepost Montessori, a kindergarten daycare program. “

“Witnesses described seeing ICE agents wearing vests and face coverings pulling up in unmarked vehicles.

“A parent of another child at the school, said: 'Our principal came outside and asked for identification, badges, a warrant, that information, and they did not provide any identification or any of that other information, and then proceeded to put hands on our principal.' ” 

“Khanbabazadeh reportedly went through all the hoops of the U.S. immigration system only to end up detained by ICE agents with face masks and unmarked vehicles who refused to provide badges, identification, or a warrant. Rather than taking Khanbabazadeh to the nearby Portland ICE facility, they instead sent him 150 miles away to the Tacoma, Wash., detention center, making it harder for family and attorneys to gain access to him.

The letter to Congress from Connecticut's State Senators urges: “It is of the utmost importance to our democracy, to the future of this country and to the welfare of our citizens, that this unprecedented use of intimidation tactics be severely curtailed immediately.”

Yes to Job Corps

 

Yes to Job Corp, no to Trump’s attack on working class programs!  Inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal work relief programs, the Job Corps has successfully and reliably provided jobs, training, and education to millions of young workers aged 16 to 24 throughout the country since its first campus opened its doors in 1965.

Job Corps in Connecticut has campuses in New Haven and Hartford.  For decades, about 300 students graduate each year and go on to contribute skills and leadership to their communities.

Today, the largely African American and Latino students of Connecticut’s Job Corps programs are in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration’s shameless war on workers.  For months, the Trump Administration has used loopholes and disingenuous legal theories to shutter this successful program.  

Just a few short weeks ago, the program and its allies pushed back in federal court and won an injunction protecting the program.  But, because of a super-majority of conservatives on the Supreme Court, it is not clear how long this injunction will hold.

The young people who are training at Connecticut’s Job Corps are not waiting to see what the Supreme Court will do.  They recognize that public action is necessary to protect Job Corp. They have the support of federal, state and local elected officials and the community.

The Jobs and Unemployed Committee of the New Haven Peoples Center is circulating a petition in support of the 149 New Haven students whose future is threatened by possible funding cuts from the Trump administration.

Standing outside the New Haven Campus, next to Senator Richard Blumenthal, Nahjayiah Munoz, the foreman of the campus carpentry program, shared that she would not have gotten a career without Job Corp, adding “we learned everything we need to do safety-wise, because on the job site, there’s not a guarantee that you’re safe - [Job Corps] makes sure we will be safe.”

Troy Sanders, who became employed as plumbing apprentice through Job Corps, said, “Job Corps is helping me out a lot, to get a good trade.  I know a lot of people that need Job Corps.”

Connecticut Sues Trump over $53 Million in School Funding

 

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 25 states in suing the Trump Administration over its unconstitutional, unlawful, and arbitrary decision to freeze $6.8 billion in funding for six longstanding programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education, including over $53 million for Connecticut schools alone.

Loss of this funding will cause immediate and severe harm to schools nationwide. Already, ongoing summer learning programs have been left unfunded. Tong and the coalition ask the court to declare the funding freeze unlawful – as courts have repeatedly done in other cases filed by Connecticut and the states– and to block any attempts to withhold or delay this funding.

“The White House has dropped an unnecessary and cruel bomb on students and their families. All Connecticut students - not just those most in need - will be jeopardized if local districts are forced to make up the difference. No one voted for starving children of their opportunity to learn. The White House should immediately back off and allow the resources Congress has already appropriated to be directed to classrooms here in Connecticut and across the nation,” said Mary Yordan, AFT Connecticut Vice President.

“Trump and Linda McMahon are stealing from Connecticut schools to fund tax cuts for billionaires, and its our kids and our teachers who are paying the price. We are talking about over $53 million already built into local school budgets in nearly every district in Connecticut for computers and technology, afterschool enrichment and field trips, social workers, English language instruction, teacher training, adult education and more,” said Tong.

“We stopped Trump when he tried to defund Head Start, when he tried to defund disaster relief and energy assistance, when he tried to defund our police, cancer research, and our libraries. We are back in court yet again to make sure our schools and our kids get every penny that our tax dollars paid for,” he added.

The lawsuit seeks both declaratory and injunctive relief—to declare the funding freeze unlawful and block Trump from withholding these critical funds.

Childcare Funding Makes History

 

Connecticut made history this month as the first-in-the-nation to comprehensively address all the challenges in early childhood, offering relief to families across the state.

With families earning under $100,000 eligible for free child care — and costs capped at 7% of income for everyone else —thousands more children will gain access to affordable, high-quality early learning — and for many families, that means free child care for the very first time.

Beth Bye, the state Early Childhood Commissioner, called the legislation a model for the nation

The suite of groundbreaking child care bills, collectively known as the Early Childhood Education Endowment is fully funded at $300 million, unlocking transformative investments in child care and pre-K.

In addition to capping child care costs, the bills raise wages and establish a new health insurance subsidy for early educators, and create a new hospital pilot program to connect new parents to resources.

Make no mistake,” said Childcare for CT Coalition Director Eva Bermudez-Zimmerman, “This win is the direct result of advocacy, organizing, and relentless pressure from parents, providers, and people across the state!” The 1000 grass roots activists calls and emails to lawmakers and 14 childcare rallies led to passage of the 2025 Connecticut Childcare Bill.

“The legislation isn't just a win for families and providers — it's a win for Connecticut at large! When we prioritize early childhood, we prioritize CT's future,” said Bermudez-Zimmerman. “We're building a future where every Connecticut family has access to quality, affordable childcare, where parents can join or remain in the workforce while setting our kids up for a bright, successful future.”

The Office for Early Childhood and Child Care for CT will host information town halls across the state.

“This is a huge win for children, parents and child care providers across Connecticut. From day one, our members have been clear about what we need: affordable and accessible childcare for families and systems that work for both providers and the parents we serve,” said Maria Reyes, CSEA SEIU Local 2001’s Childcare Council President.