Everyone needs a place to live. That is something not seriously debated or disputed by Connecticut policymakers.

What was debated, disputed-–and in the end, discarded–- is the idea that the places people live should not be suddenly, and without justification, taken away from them.

“Just Cause” eviction protections, which prevent landlords removing a tenant without cause, already exist for seniors (age 62 and up) and people with disabilities in this state. Five states, including our neighbors in New Hampshire and New Jersey, already require landlords to give a reason for evicting any tenant. Importantly, the bill would have only applied to properties with five or more units and would not have affected small local landlords.

Why couldn’t Connecticut, facing our own growing crisis with housing and homelessness, take this step to provide stability for families–who already face spiraling rental costs–and prevent price-gouging practices by unscrupulous landlords?

State Rep. Antonio Felipe told the CT Mirror last month that he believed “we have the votes.” But somehow, the vote never happened. According to Felipe, that’s because too many lawmakers were afraid to be “public” with their support of “Just Cause.”

Protecting Connecticut families from arbitrary evictions should not be something legislators on either side of the political spectrum shrink from. The idea that a tenant who pays rent on time and follows all the rules should keep their living space cannot be controversial. Opponents to this measure, led by deep-pocketed landlords, claimed counter-intuitively (and bizarrely) that these measures would worsen the housing crisis by disincentivizing landlords from maintaining properties, leading (somehow) to a decrease in housing units.

Connecticut’s housing crisis is finally being acknowledged broadly, with a huge dearth of affordable places to live and high costs squeezing families in nearly every town. But it is vital to remember this crisis is not about properties, it is about people.

While building more living spaces remains essential, we cannot expect renters (largely young people) to thrive in our state under the constant threat of being forced from their homes. Career prospects, school performance, community connections -–all hinge on a stable living space. It would be deeply misguided, and dangerous, to continue working on other aspects of the housing crisis without shoring up the foundation.

A former Aghan interpreter living here in Connecticut has been taken away by immigration agents.

That’s according to the man’s attorney, who says he was here legally with his wife and children.

“So my reaction – horror. Fury,” Maggie Mitchell Salem, of Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, said.

That concern follows what reportedly happened at the Citizenship and Immigration Service office in East Hartford on Wednesday.

Attorney Lauren Cundick Petersen said the man – identified as Zia – went there as part of the process to get a green card for him and his family based on his service as an interpreter for U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

That’s when she said he was surrounded by immigration agents and taken away to a facility in Massachusetts.

“He’s been in combat situations. He’s been in a war-torn country. This is the kind of thing that I think he thought he totally left behind. You know, people in balaclava shoving you into a van, carrying weapons, right?” Petersen said.

Petersen said on Thursday, a court issued an emergency order that he cannot be removed from the country for now.

And a hearing in a couple of weeks is expected for the government to explain its actions.

If he were to be deported, it’s not certain where he’d go.

Petersen said Zia came here legally last year and lives in the New Haven area with his wife and five children.

The family had received support from the New Haven-based Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, or IRIS.

“I can’t even imagine being in their shoes right now. And then the fear that they must have if he can be picked up like this what about the rest of the family? What about others?” Maggie Mitchell Salem, of IRIS, said.

IRIS saic there are hundreds of people – potentially thousands, including families – who have resettled in Connecticut from Afghanistan.

And they are concerned about how many others might be in jeopardy after a Trump administrative order takes a closer look at those who have entered the country since January 2021.

We reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment but have not yet heard back.

A duck was rescued after falling over a waterfall, on Thursday afternoon in Beacon Falls.

Beacon Hose Co. No. 1 received a call from a resident saying they saw a duck trip over the waterfall that connects to the Naugatuck River.

The duck ended up in a pipe.

Two lieutenants climbed down and were able to bring the duck back to land.

They safely brought it back to its pond nearby.