Immigration advocates say they’ve already been preparing for President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to ramp up deportations once he returns to the White House.

“We anticipate that they’re going to be very quick, very rapid, very massive efforts to grab as many people as possible and deport them,” National Immigration Law Center President Kica Matos said during a rally outside the Capitol on Monday.

Matos said hers and other organizations began considering possible actions earlier this year in case Trump won.

Now, Trump is promising to deliver on his campaign pledge, taking to his Truth Social platform earlier in the morning to confirm he plans to declare a national emergency.

He also intends to try and use the military to support his deportation effort, his post confirmed.

Advocates said they’re trying to assume undocumented immigrants in Connecticut that their organizations will offer support.

“If families have to be separated, it defeats the point completely because people are trying to get to the United States to be with their families,” said Tabitha Sookdeo, executive director of CT Students For a Dream.

Sookdeo said her family came from Guyana when she was a teenager and her grandmother, who was a U.S. citizen, was trying to help them also get permanent legal status.

Her grandmother died during the process, though, leaving Sookdeo’s family in limbo.

“Immigration is pretty complicated,” she said.

Democrats, meanwhile, said they won’t support federal deportation efforts.

Attorney General William Tong (D) pointed to the state’s Trust Act, which bars local and state agencies from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts.

“Connecticut is going to care for our immigrant families and immigrant neighbors and friends,” Tong said.

There are some exceptions, including when an undocumented immigrant is convicted of a Class A or Class B felony. Tong wouldn’t say if that means Connecticut has to notify federal authorities of such a conviction.

“I’m not going to issue a legal opinion on the fly from this podium,” Tong said.

Connecticut Republicans were critical of Democrats, though, saying their policies don’t reflect what voters want.

Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) said Connecticut spends too much money supporting undocumented immigrants, including with Medicaid, education and other assistance.

He also said voters are worried about public safety.

“It’s really out of step, I think, with what the residents and America wants, and that is, you know, safe borders, public safety and we have to get the cost of immigration under control,” Candelora said.

BRIDGEPORT, CT — An unnamed Bridgeport resident is $25,000 richer this week after claiming a winning lottery ticket purchased in Norwalk, the Connecticut Lottery announced.

On Wednesday, the person claimed a winning 200X ticket that was bought at East Avenue Citgo on East Avenue.

The Connecticut Lottery publishes partial winner information as public record, according to officials.

The game, which costs $20 per ticket, began in February, and as of Monday, one grand prize of $1 million remained unclaimed.

More than 2.5 million game tickets have been printed, and the overall odds of winning are 1 in 3.21.

The state of Connecticut is not a private company – it is a government, whose job it is to invest in and to protect its people. 

Access Health CT recently announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients will be eligible to enroll in health insurance coverage through state-based marketplaces beginning Nov. 1, after the Biden Administration reversed a decision earlier this year to unfairly exclude DACA recipients from the ACA.

While this is wonderful news, this change will only help a very small number of people, leaving most immigrants in our state still without healthcare. The fact is, we can afford to provide HUSKY for all who need it, documented as well as undocumented – and in fact we can’t afford not to.

After the election of Donald Trump in 2016, I knew I wanted to get involved in supporting my immigrant neighbors. Before then I had always voted, but was otherwise busy with my job and family and not involved in politics. After years of working 50 to 60-plus hours each week as an engineer with UTC and bringing up my kids as a single mom, I was ready to relax when I retired in 2017.

But things had now changed, and I started working with Hartford Deportation Defense (HDD) accompanying our neighbors to their immigration hearings to bear witness and offer support. It was often heartbreaking: One young man had all of his possessions in a backpack, fearing he may have to leave after the hearing.

During the Biden administration this work slowed down a bit, and I became more involved in HUSKY for Immigrants. I care a lot about health care –  because without it, I would not be walking. I have rheumatoid arthritis and couldn’t afford the medication without insurance. If untreated it would be causing me much more damage.

I am continually frustrated at the resistance to providing health care to all of our Connecticut residents, regardless of immigration status.

Three of my four grandparents were not born here. My Mom’s parents came from Italy, and my Dad’s dad was from Russia, which later became the Soviet Union. My fourth grandparent was first generation. My mother’s family was separated by World War I during their immigration process, and my grandmother never did learn English.

I see some relatives and others being anti-immigrant and that infuriates me. Our family was welcomed and we made a home here. Today’s immigrants want the same. America is stronger when we welcome immigrants and we have a history of doing so.

People from other countries often come here because it is not safe for them in their own countries. They need and deserve healthcare. When people don’t have it, they don’t treat health issues until they become more serious or it’s too late. It is a terrifying thing, to be undocumented and not have healthcare.

It infuriates me when people say we can’t afford to provide healthcare to undocumented people, or they don’t “deserve” it. the fact is that undocumented immigrants pay more in taxes than they get out of the system.

To me, it’s all about fairness, and why we think we deserve something when other people don’t. People say they don’t want the government in healthcare. Well, I don’t want for-profit companies in my healthcare — insurance or drug companies just trying to make money!

Why do companies need to increase profits every year? Why is our government more accountable to corporations and Wall Street investors than our communities in Connecticut? As long as you are doing well, isn’t that enough?

Connecticut currently has a record surplus. How much of a surplus is enough surplus? Where does that end?

Preventative health care leads to better health for individuals – and for children in school, and adults in the workplace and in the community. Preventative health care saves the government money. I am grateful to be working with the HUSKY 4 Immigrants coalition, and I look forward to a day when everyone in Connecticut has the health care they need and deserve.

Donna Grossman of Windsor is an active member of the HUSKY 4 Immigrants Coalition and Hartford Deportation Defense.