“Bienvenidos a todos”: City leaders unite against Trump on immigration
Mayor Justin Elicker — flanked by city officials, alders and activists — sent a welcoming message to undocumented immigrants in New Haven on the Friday before Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Ethan Wolin, Contributing Photographer
Three days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, local leaders positioned themselves squarely against his hostility toward undocumented immigrants, assuring those in New Haven that the city will continue to serve them no matter their legal status.
The message came from Mayor Justin Elicker, Police Chief Karl Jacobson and several other speakers at a 45-minute press conference on Friday at the Atwater Senior Center in Fair Haven. They offered reminders about New Haven’s commitments as a “welcoming city”, advised immigrants on preparing for the second Trump administration and outlined new resources to support them if federal immigration authorities come knocking.
“We are here today to reflect our values as a city that welcomes every single person,” Elicker, surrounded by over two dozen officials and allies, said in his introductory remarks. “We will continue to be that community despite people that are outside of that community, some people that want to try to dismantle that and push us in a different direction.”
Municipal employees and police officers have recently received reminders that they must not inquire about residents’ level of legal documentation, Elicker and Jacobson said.
The city released a 38-page resource guide for immigrants and new residents, as well as a Spanish version, last week. Printed booklets were distributed at the press conference, and they will be available at libraries, according to the mayor’s spokesman.
“Everyone, both documented and undocumented people, are provided certain rights in this country regardless of presidential administration,” the document says.
Although Trump’s name does not appear in the resource guide, it is a response to his return to power, which has created anxiety in heavily Democratic New Haven. On the campaign trail, Trump promised mass deportations and criticized so-called sanctuary cities, such as New Haven, that do not aid federal immigration enforcement.
But even as he began signing executive orders on Monday to crack down on illegal immigration, it remained unclear whether or how his policies would immediately affect New Haveners.
“There’s a lot of rhetoric, and some of it is very frightening, and everyone is talking about how far these folks are going to go,” Elicker said at the Friday press conference. “We’re working as a team to prepare, and I think everyone here acknowledges that we’re going to have to be flexible.”
Where he could not provide certainty about federal policy, the mayor could provide an unambiguous picture of New Haven’s support for immigrants.
Yellow signs championing the city’s immigrants read, “Hate has no place here.” The group standing to face the elderly audience and the television cameras ranged from Jacobson to youth activists.
Gesturing for more people to line up within the frame before beginning the press conference, Elicker said, “It’s important that we show how many people care about this.” He began his remarks in Spanish — the only language understood by some present in the Atwater Senior Center — for over 30 seconds, concluding, “Bienvenidos a todos!”
Ward 14 Alder Sarah Miller, who represents part of Fair Haven, home to a large Latino immigrant population, described efforts she has helped organize since the election to prepare for Trump’s immigration policies on several fronts, among them legal services and community engagement.
“On Nov. 6, I started getting calls very early in the morning asking what we’re going to do to protect and support our people,” Miller said, joined by five colleagues from the Board of Alders. She added that she hopes the early organizing push “gives all of our neighbors confidence that we all have rights, we all have power, we are organized, all of us together, and none of us is in this alone.”
Fatima Rojas spoke on behalf of the Semilla Collective, an organization for New Haven immigrants, setting out her plan to encourage conversations in people’s homes about what to do if they encounter “la migra” — Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
After the press conference, Rojas said the approach of “home-based leadership development,” over coffee and tamalitos, could help spread practical advice through the community even while many immigrants work multiple jobs and may not be available for traditional information meetings.
She said attitudes toward Trump’s second vary among the fellow immigrant New Haveners with whom she has spoken. “I have heard a lot, ‘Oh, it’s just a loco; this is crazy, this guy is crazy, he’s crazy. And you know what, we already had him for four years,’” Rojas said.
New Haven has not seen a major ICE raid since 2007.
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