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New Milford residents urge council to adopt limits on ICE cooperation; council to consider resolution at a future meeting
Summary
During public comment, several New Milford residents urged the borough to adopt a resolution restricting local cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, protecting sensitive sites and clarifying warrant requirements; the council agreed to add the topic to a future meeting agenda for further discussion.
Several residents used the public-comment period at New Milford’s March 9 work session to press the mayor and council to adopt a local resolution limiting cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and protecting what they called "sensitive areas."
"I’m coming to you with a sense of urgency regarding potential interactions we may have with Immigration and Customs Enforcement," said Carrie Hittle, identifying herself as a lifelong resident of Windsor Road. Hittle urged the council to adopt a strong, locally enforceable resolution that would, she said, ensure "the Milford Police Department will not act in concert with or support ICE in their actions in town" and bar ICE from entering schools, health-care centers, churches and courts without properly executed judicial warrants.
Laurie Barton, another resident who spoke during public comment, supported that request and framed it in constitutional terms: "Everyday, we seem to get closer to 1930s Germany in this country... If not now, then when?" Barton asked the council to take action and said she hoped for a "vibrant discussion" at a subsequent meeting.
Bill Sherman, who said he has lived in town about 10 years, echoed calls both for a clear resolution and for enforcement where laws already exist: "If we find ICE violating the law here, enforce it. If we find police violating the sanctuary-state law, enforce it," he said.
Council members and staff did not adopt a resolution at the March 9 session. Mayor Michael J. Petrino acknowledged the request and the meeting record shows council members agreed to place the matter on a future agenda for full discussion. "I would like us to actually consider this as something on our next evening," a member of the public suggested; the mayor said he did not think it would be added that night but that it could be scheduled for the next meeting.
Councilors asked staff to circulate information and to coordinate language where appropriate; no staff directive or formal motion to draft specific ordinance text appeared in the meeting minutes. The request was presented as a regional coordination opportunity, with Hittle noting surrounding municipalities had already drafted or were drafting similar resolutions.
The public-comment period also included questions about conservation easements and the status of farmland listed for sale; councilors clarified that the borough does not hold certain Green Acres easements and that conversion of Green Acres–encumbered land would require state-level processes.
The council went into closed session at the end of the work session; no formal action on an ICE-related resolution was recorded.
