- An ICE sweep detained 118 people across Connecticut during the week of August twenty-four, twenty twenty-six.
- Arrests were reported in Danbury, Stamford, Bridgeport, Hartford, and near schools, workplaces, and bus stops.
- Senator Blumenthal asked DHS to review alleged force, blocked lawyer access, and masked agents in public areas.
An immigration operation detained 118 people across Connecticut during the week of August 24, 2026, with more than 60 arrests reported in Danbury. The sweep centered on southern Connecticut but reached communities statewide.
Public accounts offered different tallies. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal described nearly 100 apprehensions during one week, while local groups and one statewide account put the total at 118.
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The action ran from August 24 to 28, 2026. Agents appeared in Stamford, Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven-area locations, as well as workplaces, grocery stores, parks and bus stops.
Some encounters happened near schools and daycare centers. Families and advocates said the arrests disrupted ordinary routines across the region.
Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves said the pattern appeared to target people based on appearance and language. “It’s about where you come from in the world, what you look like, what language you speak,” Alves said.
Community organizers counted at least 65 affected families in the city. Juliana Soares, an organizer with Danbury Unites for Immigrants, gave that estimate.
A separate local estimate said around 700 students stayed home from school after the raids. Another account said only “six or seven” of roughly 100 people arrested had criminal records, describing the rest as having no serious criminal history.
The Senate investigation request followed reports of force and blocked access
Blumenthal held a town hall in Danbury on September 4, 2026, where elected officials, attorneys and organizers described the operation’s effects. He later asked the DHS Inspector General to examine the tactics.
In a September 10, 2026 letter, the senator said agents reportedly “apprehended nearly 100 individuals — many of whom likely have legal status and no apparent serious criminal history — throughout the course of just one week in August.”
His letter also cited an agent allegedly kicking and tasing a man who went to a hospital, agents breaking car windows and detainees being removed in chains. It described blocked attorney access in Hartford.
Blumenthal further cited masked agents at Danbury parks, an elementary school and a daycare center. His account included the detention of a father walking his child to a bus stop and an alleged threat to pepper spray a man detained outside a preschool.
He called the operation “one of the largest immigration operations in Connecticut history.” The senator’s office published the request for an investigation on September 10.
:::callout DHS said the people arrested included individuals with convictions for “assault, sexual assault, false imprisonment and molestation of a minor.” The department also signaled that enforcement “will not be stopping” in Danbury. :::
The operation reached daily routines, schools and workplaces
Residents and advocates described arrests at bus stops, on the job, in grocery stores and near a day care center. Agents were also reported in neighborhoods and parks.
Parents were detained after taking children to school, according to accounts of the operation. Businesses saw fewer customers as residents stayed home.
The reports described a sweep affecting parents and workers, including a woman at a day care center and a person arrested at a grocery store. Parts of Danbury emptied as fear spread through the community.
Local officials called the raids “frightening.” Public criticism also described the operation as a “federal invasion of immigration officials in Danbury.”
A Catholic bishop responded separately: “When one member suffers, all of us suffer.” The statement joined a wider reaction from local officials, advocates and residents.
The late-August sweep remains active in the city
The federal activity continued to draw attention after Blumenthal’s town hall and letter. The senator’s request kept the question of enforcement tactics before federal investigators and Connecticut officials.
DHS indicated that activity in Danbury would continue. The enforcement remained politically active as of September 11, 2026.
