Danbury, Connecticut, voted to expand police eligibility to include DACA recipients and lawful permanent residents following recent federal immigration enforcement operations that city leaders said had generated fear throughout the community.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Danbury, Connecticut, has approved a policy allowing certain non-U.S. citizens to apply to become city police officers, a move city officials framed as a response to recent federal immigration enforcement actions and a message of support to the local immigrant community.
The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the change, with only two of 20 council members opposing it, according to the Hartford Courant.
Under the revised qualifications, police applicants may include recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, as well as non-citizen lawful permanent residents.
Supporters said candidates admitted under the new rules will remain subject to the same screening and background-check requirements as other applicants.
Council member Joe Britton argued that citizenship status should not determine whether an otherwise qualified applicant can serve on the police force.
“In the Army, I learned quickly your background doesn’t matter when you put on the uniform. Same team. Same mission. I believe the same applies to our police,” Britton said.
“It’s legal. It’s allowed. It’s been recommended. … I do think it’s timely, and this vote sends a message to our immigrant community that you are welcome in Danbury.”
The change follows several days of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in the city late last month.
Mayor Roberto Alves criticized the federal operations and said they had caused widespread anxiety among residents and hurt local businesses.
“We don’t see folks going to the stores. We still see parents scared to send their kids to school. We still see parents scared to go to work,” Alves said in remarks reported by ABC7 New York.
Alves has publicly supported the new police eligibility policy and has also spoken about his own immigration history, saying he entered the United States without legal status when he was younger.
Local immigration activists have also pointed to declining school enrollment as evidence that the city’s migrant population may be shrinking.
In October 2025, the Danbury News-Times reported that enrollment had fallen by more than 500 students, with much of the decline occurring among English-learning, multilingual and low-income students.
More recent estimates cited by local activists have put the year-over-year enrollment decline at roughly 700 students.
The ICE operations in Danbury are part of a broader Trump administration effort to increase immigration enforcement against people subject to removal.
Border czar Tom Homan defended the agency’s work during an interview with CNN, saying ICE is targeting people who are in the country illegally or who have final removal orders.
“We’re out there to look for illegal aliens with final orders of removal, those who overstay, those who are criminals, and we’re out there looking for them and arresting them,” Homan said. “ICE has no intention of terrorizing children. That is just a political statement, you know, to enrage the American people.”
Danbury officials, however, have argued that the effects of federal enforcement are being felt beyond the individuals directly targeted, citing reduced business activity and fear among families.
The City Council’s police eligibility vote now places Danbury among municipalities allowing certain non-citizens with lawful status or DACA protections to seek positions in local law enforcement.
Supporters say the change broadens the city’s recruitment pool and strengthens ties with immigrant residents, while opponents argue that police powers should remain limited to U.S. citizens.
For Danbury leaders backing the measure, the timing was deliberate: they said the vote was intended not only to change hiring policy but also to signal that eligible immigrant residents remain part of the city’s civic institutions despite the recent immigration raids.
Original article
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