Federal immigration agents have been arresting parents at school bus stops in a Connecticut town with a sizable immigrant community, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has said. ICE waited until the kids were on the bus so when they are dropped off at the end of the day, they are alone, scared to death they can’t find their parents. I’m heading to Danbury.” Murphy did not immediately provide evidence supporting the claim that agents deliberately waited until children had boarded buses before making arrests.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment. The allegations came as immigrant advocacy group Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants posted a video on Facebook that appears to be recorded from inside a school bus in Danbury during an immigration enforcement operation. The video, filmed from inside a moving school bus, appears to show several unmarked law enforcement-style vehicles traveling through residential streets and intersections.
Voices on the bus can be heard urging people to record what is happening and identifying the vehicles as ICE vehicles. Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants said ICE arrested 48 people in Danbury over three days this week, including 22 on the second day of the local school year. "We have eye witness accounts of ICE circling around bus stops as kids were getting off the bus home from school.
Kids were afraid to get off the bus and to walk home. Families are scared to walk their children to school and are keeping their home," the group wrote. Danbury, a city in western Connecticut, is home to a sizable immigrant community.
Roughly 35 percent of its residents were born outside the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates for 2020-2024.
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