Latest news with #Elicker
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
Woman detained by ICE in CT city, two young children allegedly left terrified in car
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker confirmed Wednesday that the New Haven Police Department was told that a woman from the Hill neighborhood of the city was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Elicker said they are trying to confirm that the woman was with her two children, ages 13 and 8, when the arrest by ICE occurred. 'If that is true…that is deplorable and inhumane,' Elicker said. Elicker said he has two children about those ages, who would 'lose their minds' if they saw their mother arrested in such a way. It would be 'beyond the pale,' he said. He said he was told she was getting the kids ready to go to school when the arrest occurred. Further, Elicker said, ICE did not inform the city or the Police Department that the arrest would take place, which 'creates a danger' for her, police and ICE, because the arrest could be seen as an abduction by those who did not know what was occurring. 'It puts our officers and ICE at risk,' he said. Elicker, who did not name the woman, said she had been charged in March with third-degree assault following a conflict in which she and another person suffered minor injuries. He said the case remains pending. John Lugo, an organizer with New Haven-based Unidad Latina en Accion, said the woman was taken around 8:15 a.m. on Monday morning with her two children in her car. 'The woman was taken and detained and her two traumatized children remained in the car,' Lugo said. Lugo said one of the children is autistic and keeps asking for his mother. 'He wants his mom but there is no mom. Mom is sitting in jail,' Lugo said. Lugo said both children are staying with a grandmother in the state. The grandmother is visiting from Mexico but the length of her stay in the U.S. is unclear, so Lugo and his organization are worried about the future of the children once she goes back to Mexico. CT high school's joy in graduation dimmed by classmate taken by ICE. Town hopes to get him back. Lugo said the best way the public can help is money for legal representation. He said the detained woman does not have a lawyer at this time and that all other state detainees end up in Texas. He's waiting to see if she ends up transferred to Texas, which he said would only add to the financial burden. 'That's one way to punish migrants when you have to transfer someone so far away. Being in Texas adds an additional cost. Now they need a lawyer to travel there because sometimes they aren't allowed to have video conferences,' Lugo said. Lugo said since last week there have been more people being detained without any history of felonies. 'The perfect example was the Southington car wash incident,' Lugo said. 'They were just profiled. They drove by and saw a bunch of migrants and decided to stop and detained them. That happened the same day as what happened to the women in New Haven.' 'In Southington, they just detained four people because they looked like migrants. They weren't looking for a particular person. I think it's very troubling and the hard part is seeing the kids crying and being traumatized,' he added. 'Due process is not there anymore.' The reason for the Southington arrest has not been confirmed by authorities. Lugo said since the start of President Donald Trump's second term, people in his community are scared. 'They are trying to figure out what to do. Many are thinking about going back to their country because this is not a safe place anymore,' Lugo said. 'It's not just the government. We see other kids at school threatening to call ICE on classmates and parents. We see landlords taking advantage. They are raising the rent and are getting them evicted. The first threat by many is: if you don't move, 'I will call ICE.'' 'I have two cases in which New Haven restaurant bosses that have told workers if you don't stop complaining about wages or raises, I'm going to call immigration on you guys. It's not just the government. This is empowering people to hate people and hate us.' Lugo said he fears that ICE is expanding and that he knows of an office that has opened in New Haven. 'We think eventually they are going to hit us hard in Connecticut just because they want to punish the state because the state has taken a stance on behalf of the migrant community,' Lugo said. The Southington and New Haven detainments by ICE are all on the heels of a Meriden high school student and his father being detained last week.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Haven Board of Alders passes $703.7 million city budget
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — The New Haven Board of Alders passed a $703.7 million city budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, according to a press release from Mayor Justin Elicker's office. New Haven cutting positions at 12 public schools for 2025-26 year Elicker said that included in the budget is another $5 million for New Haven Public Schools — $1.5 million will go toward after school and summer tutoring for struggling students. An additional $15 million in the Capital Budget will go towards school building and facility improvements. Elicker thanked the Board of Alders and the residents of New Haven who participated in the budget process. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Haven mayor, students demand more school funding at Capitol
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Dozens of New Haven Public School students along with Mayor Justin Elicker boarded the 'Education Express' train from Elm City to the Capitol to testify before the Education Committee for a public hearing. They are demanding more funding for schools. The students are testifying in support of Senate Bill 1511, 'An Act Concerning Disconnected Youth.' The legislation advances a number of recommendations from the bipartisan 119K Commission's Young People First Report, including increasing the state's foundation amount per student and indexing to inflation, while adequately funding high-need students. High-needs students are those who may have disabilities or be multilingual learners. Rally held in New Haven to push for more education funding Wilbur Cross High School junior John Carlos Serana Musser says a lack of funding in his school has disrupted his learning. 'Our building suffers from leaky roofs, resulting in closed libraries, classrooms, athletic facilities due to mold,' he said. 'We have benefitted from extraordinary, dedicated teachers, but all of us have had classes where we have spent months without a certified instructor.' Jonaily Colon, another New Haven high school student, told News 8, 'We should be focusing on SATs and college (applications), not worrying about our school's facilities.' Mayor Justin Elicker adds there are currently too few staff to meet students' needs. He says the school system has 46 councilors for 19,000 students, a ratio of one councilor per 412 students. Elicker says the city is pushing for this legislation because the foundation amount currently allocated toward each student by the state is $11,525 dollars, which hasn't increased since 2013 despite inflation. 'I appreciate this bill's effort to address the critical issue of disconnected youth. However, I am concerned about certain provisions—particularly yet another proposed tweak to the equalization aid grant formula, which once again fails to consider the full range of financial stressors that hinder school districts' ability to support these youth, such as the high cost of transportation. As discussions continue, I urge the committee to prioritize using existing programs that already provide effective services, rather than spending more money to stand up new programs or start new data collection efforts,' Republican House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora said. Elicker says New Haven wants to see that amount increased to at least $12,400 and indexed to inflation each year. 'The goal here is to bump it up and make sure it continues to rise because what costs haven't increased over the past 10 years?' he said. The proposed legislation is still under consideration by the committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker to propose city budget
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — New Haven's mayor is presenting his city budget for the next fiscal year on Friday. Mayor Justin Elicker told News 8 last year that they would close out with a budget surplus. Almost 16 and a half million dollars – that's the surplus Mayor Elicker said they were looking at back in October. We will find out what the next year looks like for the city's budget. Housing, crime and education main themes of Elicker's state of the city address in New Haven A major priority for New Haven is education. Last year, that surplus helped protect against staff layoffs in schools. Almost 13 and a half million went into the city's rainy day fund. That puts New Haven's reserves at over $50 million. One big problem that everyone is facing is that the federal money from the American Rescue Plan is running out. Cities and towns had to obligate those last remaining funds at the end of last year. New Haven chose school building maintenance and improvements for those funds. Another big issue for New Haven is spending on police. Three months ago, the union approved an expensive new contract that goes through June of 2028. That contract includes a new base salary of $70,000 a year. That is up considerably from what the department had been paying. It also includes a 25% salary increase to retain current officers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Haven encourages people to shop local this Valentine's Day
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Valentine's Day is on Friday, and before finalizing your plans, you're being encouraged to make New Haven a shopping destination — or when dining out. Hartford business prints championship hats after Eagles' Super Bowl win State and local leaders gathered at Olive and Oil restaurant on Temple Street Tuesday to spread the word about what the Elm City has to offer. Despite being the 'pizza capitol of the world,' New Haven shop owners say that there is a lot more to offer. Flower shops are taking orders for the weekend, the Shubert Theatre has plays and shows ready to leave you entertained and there are various restaurants to choose from. 'Over 700 businesses in New Haven, and what we're asking people to do is give some love to our businesses and you'll get even more love back,' Mayor Justin Elicker (D-New Haven) said. Elicker also participated in a cannoli pastry demonstration after the news conference, which he says is one of many sweet treats you'll find when you shop local. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
