The Connecticut Huskies won their game against the Vermont Catamounts 1-0 on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2025.

The only goal of the game came from

Claire Murdoch

in the first period.

Connecticut’s Claire Murdoch scored the game-winning goal.

The Huskies took the lead early in the first period, with a goal from Claire Murdoch.

Ashley Allard

and

Kyla Josifovic

assisted.

Next up:

The action continues on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, with the Catamounts meeting Northeastern 5 p.m. CST at Matthews Arena and the Huskies taking on Merrimack at 5 p.m. CST at Toscano Family Ice Forum.

Read more college hockey coverage

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Immigration Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has been spotted in at least four Connecticut communities since the Trump administration took over, and that’s led to some fear.

So far, we have had confirmed reports of ICE in East Hartford, Stamford, New London and Windham.

While agents haven’t been seen in Hartford, one church in the capitol city said there’s real concern about it growing among parishioners.

“You’re here and we’re going to do everything we can to help you,” said Rev. Roberto Calcano, the pastor at the Faith Temple Assembly of God.

This has been his message to parishioners ever since the Department of Homeland Security ended a policy that restricted ICE to arrest undocumented people at locations like churches, schools and hospitals.

He said worry is spreading, and some are not going to church in fear of being detained.

“This being a house of worship – they should respect that. We’re not going to allow them to come in,” Calcano said.

The church has been handing out cards reminding parishioners of their rights and how to respond if they were to face an ICE agent, no matter where.

“The idea is to get off our streets, people that have violent histories and stuff. That’s understood. But unfortunately, you know, people that are innocent are the ones that get caught in between,” Calcano said.

In Willimantic, the police department confirms ICE was in town as of Monday, but said they were operating there legally.

The police department is urging everyone to continue their usual activities for now.

The Trump administration said they would prioritize detentions of undocumented immigrants who have committed serious crimes, a sentiment some Republican lawmakers in our state agree with.

 “We have to focus on making our streets safer,” Rep. Vincent Candelora (R – Minority Leader) said.

NBC Connecticut has reached out to ICE for comment but has not yet heard back.

It has been reported that the Mexican government plans to shut down that nation’s highly respected National Institute for Access to Information (INAI), the country’s Freedom of Information (FOI) agency. The responsibility for guaranteeing access to government information will then presumably fall to government departments subject to presidential control. In other words, a case of the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse.

INAI was modeled in significant part on the Connecticut’s FOI Commission. Mexico studied the Connecticut law and its commission and learned from our successes and failures.

Unfortunately what Mexico is now experiencing with the likely closing of INAI has been happening, to one degree or another, in many countries throughout the world – including supposedly democratic ones. The United States has not been immune to this threat. Nor has Connecticut.

For example, it often takes our federal government (which has no independent FOI enforcement agency) years to process even a simple request for information and in many cases government agencies deny requests with questionable claims of exemptions. The only option then for a disappointed requester is to go to the expense of filing a lawsuit, which in itself can take years to resolve. And in Connecticut, numerous unnecessary exemptions have been added to its FOI Act and there have been several notable attempts to curtail the FOI Commission’s independence and funding.

Connecticut’s FOI Act turns 50 in 2025. The law was enacted in 1975 during the post-Watergate reform era. Over time, it too has been weakened. But remarkably, it has largely endured thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the commission and its staff, supporting nonprofit organizations, such as the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government and the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, and, importantly, the many Connecticut citizens who rely on the commission to administer and enforce the FOI law.

That is why the commemoration of the 50^th Anniversary of FOI in Connecticut is so significant: it has survived substantially intact for half a century where in many other places similar laws have not. The law still remains a vital – and sometimes the only – tool for citizens and the press to uncover government inefficiency, waste and corruption.

But laws and institutions that promote government transparency and accountability require constant vigilance. The Connecticut FOI experience over the past 50 years proves that such vigilance does indeed work.

We should be justifiably proud that Connecticut has for 50 years maintained an effective and credible FOI law that provides its citizens with meaningful government oversight and accountability. The fact that the law has survived to its golden anniversary is a tremendous achievement.

But we can only hope to move that record forward for another 50 years or more with continued vigilance. And by doing so, we can keep Connecticut as a beacon of open government for the entire world well into the future.

Pearlman was formerly the executive director of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government and the Connecticut Council on Freedom of information.