Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin is quickly making a name for himself as the most left-wing candidate in Connecticut’s gubernatorial race. In a recent appearance on Fox News, Bronin defended Hartford’s status as a sanctuary city, refusing to abide by federal immigration laws and flouting law enforcement’s attempts to combat illegal immigration.
In his appearance, Bronin attacked ICE authorities, accusing them of targeting citizens without cause, which earned a harsh rebuke from an ICE spokesman. Bronin’s comments, which were labeled as a “pander” to his “liberal base,” represent the most far-left position on immigration of any Democrat gubernatorial candidate in the race so far, as Bronin’s rivals Susan Bysiewicz and Ned Lamont have remained relatively silent on the issue.
As Bronin continues to embrace a far-left agenda in Connecticut’s 2018 gubernatorial contest, Democrats continue to abandon the center as they try to hold on to power.
But Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin accepted an invitation this past week from Trinity College graduate Jesse Watters to go on ‘Watters World’ to defend the capital’s sanctuary city status…
Watters said Bronin’s noncompliance with the Trump administration’s crackdown on sanctuary cities has contributed to crime.
‘Your city, Hartford, I mean crime’s going up there under your tutelage,’ Watters said. ‘Murder and rape are up.’…
Connecticut is home to a number of sanctuary cities, led by Hartford and New Haven, which have said they will not comply with federal immigration detainer requests for nonviolent criminals. Their stance follows a directive from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who last year was excoriated by then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer for bucking the Trump administration.
‘What [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] is doing in the state of Connecticut and in my community right now is targeting families that have no criminal history that are hard working, tax paying, contributing members of our community,’ Bronin said. ‘We’re not going to let our police force be commandeered by the federal government to target families that aren’t posing any threat to anyone, and that’s what’s happening right now, and that’s something that President Trump has encouraged.’
Told of Bronin’s comments on Fox News, ICE officials took umbrage Monday.
‘The mayor’s comments are, unfortunately, misguided,’ said John Mohan, an agency spokesman. ‘The fact is that ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security. At the same time, it is also true that ICE does not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement and, therefore, all of those in violation of federal immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.’
Bronin is one of five mayors with gubernatorial ambitions. Among the others is Danbury Republican Mark Boughton, who has frequently drawn contrasts between his city’s cooperation with ICE and sanctuary cities such as Hartford…
Boughton said Bronin was playing to his liberal base with his Fox News appearance.
‘I think the base will love it,’ Boughton said. ‘He was a pander bear to the base.’
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