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Report on New Haven Immigrants Coalition

by Susan Bramhall, NHIC

On Saturday, Feb. 7, one of the coldest days of our current snowy winter, the New Haven Immigrants Coalition (NHIC), with support from 8 other organizations – C4D, CT Tenants Union, PSL CT, New Haven Federation of Teachers, Artists Against Apartheid, Yalies for Palestine, and Greater New Haven Indivisible – invited groups and community members who want to engage more actively in support for immigrant justice to a gathering at the First Presbyterian Church. The crowd of 210 that responded to Break the ICE! filled the sanctuary! The incredible turnout showed our shared enthusiasm to expand and strengthen our community in response to authoritarian and racist threats. A primary goal of the organizers was for everyone to meet and get to know each other and the organizations they work with and to learn about the many aspects of the NHIC work. I can testify that the initial “ice breaker” challenge to talk to three people you haven’t met before during a 5-minute period was inspiring and gave me a sense of how diverse the gathering was.

NHIC organizers gave brief overviews of the current NHIC working groups including the rapid response and hotline team, the family solidarity group providing direct aid for families with members who have been detained, the group doing outreach to communities and businesses to prepare for anticipated ICE activity, court accompaniment, food solidarity supporting families who can’t risk shopping or are food insecure. After the gathering in the sanctuary, people were treated to a delicious dinner from Mazorca and hangout sessions to connect with working groups and organizations. It was an exciting warm event, truly Breaking the ICE on a freezing night.

FUNDRAISER in April – stay tuned for the date. To learn more, apply to volunteer, get trained or donate, visit the NHIC linktree at https://linktr.ee/NHVimmigrants.

Why Connecticut Needs a Climate Superfund / Contact Your Legislators

by Julianna Larue, Organizer, Sierra Club CT

Connecticut families are feeling the costly effects of climate disasters. Extreme weather like floods, storms and droughts in Connecticut require clean up and rebuilding that costs millions each year. Those costs are passed on to everyday people. That’s not fair. Connecticut must start by holding big polluters accountable through a Climate Superfund that makes those who caused the damage pay their fair share.

At the core of this issue is a simple lesson we all learned in primary school — if you make a mess, you clean it up. For decades, the biggest polluters have created pollution that is making extreme weather worse. When clean-up bills for extreme weather events come due, the polluters are nowhere to be found. Who is stuck with the bill?  Families, taxpayers, and local communities.

Connecticut families deserve solutions that lower costs, protect our communities, and hold polluters accountable for the mess they created. Connecticut needs a Climate Superfund. 

A Climate Superfund bill would require major fossil fuel companies to assist in paying for some climate-related damages and adaptation measures. It would ensure that companies responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions contribute to mitigating the climate damage they helped create. Importantly, funds would be prioritized for projects that benefit communities hit hardest by fossil fuel pollution and climate change.

In Connecticut alone, extreme weather fueled by climate change caused $53 million in losses to Connecticut farms in 2023 and 2024. Extreme rainfall brought catastrophic flooding and is estimated to have caused $300 million dollars in damages in August of 2024. In September of 2024, during a historic fall drought, brush fires rampaged across the state. A fire in Berlin, which involved out-of-state crews and helicopter water drops, cost upwards of $5 million. According to the Center for Climate Integrity, $5.3 billion is the minimum amount needed for defense against rising sea levels in the state by 2040. All of this amounts to a grand total of at least $5.6 billion that is being put on Connecticut families.

A Climate Superfund, like New York’s $75 billion Climate Change Superfund Act, aims to save taxpayers by shifting costs for climate adaptation from public funds to fossil fuel companies, potentially saving hundreds of billions in avoided future expenses. Projections show New Yorkers could save thousands per person over decades by avoiding costs like massive infrastructure upgrades, and preventing billions in immediate, unsubsidized adaptation spending.

Connecticut families are facing a cost of at least $5.6 billion to clean up climate damages and adapt to rising sea levels. Fossil fuel companies, who long knew the consequences of burning their products, are the primary drivers of this crisis. Why should everyday people in Connecticut have to pay to dig ourselves out of a problem they created?

The Connecticut Legislature is taking up the Climate Superfund happening right now during the 2026 legislative session and your legislators NEED to hear from YOU! Send a message to your legislators here and tell them to support passing the Climate Superfund. 

 

Protecting Children from ICE 7-9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20

Protecting Children from ICE
Hosted by Yale Undergraduates for Unicef
Yale Undergraduates for UNICEF invite you to Protecting Children From ICE, a fundraising conference focused on how ongoing ICE raids are impacting children and what we can do to support and protect them. Join students, advocates, and community partners for an evening of learning, dialogue, and action.
Friday, February 20th
7 – 9 PM
William L. Harkness Hall, Room 119
100 Wall St, New Haven
Come learn, connect, and contribute to making a difference.

Mark Colville’s reflections on his trip to Minneapolis

Friends,

I’ve just returned from two days of street actions in Minneapolis, including a solemn procession from George Floyd Square to the site of Renee Good’s murder, the general strike and massive ICE OUT march on Friday, which shut down the city. This email is a brief report-back, and comes with special thanks to everyone who kicked in donations to make the voyage possible. It changed me. I’m deeply grateful.

Arriving in the wee hours on Wednesday, I was able to make it to the federal building by noon Thursday, where an ongoing protest vigil established at the beginning of the ICE occupation has continued every day. (To put the occupation in perspective, at present there are, on average, maybe 12-14 ICE agents assigned to most cities in the country; in Minneapolis, there are now over two thousand.) Resisters at the federal building spend the time yelling at ICE personnel as they hastily pass through the gate in their cars, most hiding their faces under masks even while driving.The anger among the people here is widespread, focused and relentless. Words like “coward”, “traitor”, “fascist”, and “FUCK ICE” are hurled perpetually. Pictured on the lower left is my new friend, Bill Breeden, a retired UU minister from Indiana with whom I was connected by Barb Cass and Mike Miles from the nearby Anatoth CW farm. (They’ve graciously offered hospitality to any of us who wish to return in the coming weeks/months.) Bill and I ended up accompanying one another for the next two days of robust resistance.

On Friday morning, upwards of fifty faith-based resisters gathered at St. Paul’s Lutheran church, located in the neighborhood where George Floyd was murdered.

A solemn pilgrimage began at that very spot, now known as George Floyd Square and occupied by a variety of neighborhood people’s organizations. Each corner of G.F. Square is marked by a large statue of a raised fist, with a platform for public speaking-out. A gas station across the street has been converted to a community gathering place. The coalition of people’s organizations here has come up with a list of 24 specific demands, and they’re committed to action and occupation of this public space until each one is met.

Read more

32nd Rebellious Lawyering Conference Feb. 27–28, 2026, New Haven

The 32nd Rebellious Lawyering Conference will be held Feb. 27–28, 2026 at Yale Law School.

Registration for RebLaw 2026 is now open! To register, please complete both the YaleConnect registration linked here(Link is external) and the ticket purchase linked here(Link is external). (The first site should automatically direct you to the second after you register.)

Registration for RebLaw is pay-what-you-can for all attendees. To offset the cost of the conference and ensure that all our speakers are fairly compensated, we suggest a $15 contribution from all attendees. However, we hope that everyone interested in RebLaw can participate without cost as a barrier.

 

Break the ICE – Community Meeting & Dinner! 5 p.m. Saturday Feb. 7

Important announcement!!!! Please read and invite people!
Break the ICE – Community Meeting & Dinner!
2/7 @ 5pm
First Presbyterian Church – 704 Whitney Ave
NHIC & partner orgs are hosting a community gathering & dinner this Saturday to connect with people who want to bring the struggle against ICE into their lives and work, whether they are our neighbors, coworkers, family members or fellow activists. This is an event to share widely with anyone you know who might be interested in ICE awareness and community fightback work.
The event will have reps from organizations including CT Students for a Dream, New Haven Federation of Teachers, CT Tenants’ Union, Party for Socialism & Liberation CT, Trans Haven CT, Yalies for Palestine, Artists Against Apartheid, Greater New Haven Indivisible and more.
We will have workshops on organizing against ICE as immigrants, non-immigrants, tenants, artists, students, educators, employees, business owners, LGBTQ people and regular Greater New Haven residents.
Please share the flyer and RSVP form with anyone at all that you think could benefit from this event. Please share our IG post on your IG and send it to your friends!
My security must not come at the expense of your security. 

Time of Chaos, Time for Resistance

by PAR Planning Committee

2026 has begun with many intense challenges for the peace and justice community, locally and nationally. The federal government is out of control. Checks and balances within the government no longer exist as Trump refuses to be reined in even when Congress, the judicial system and states try to do so.

All over the country people have demonstrated against the many horrors and threats to democracy. The US invasion of  Venezuela and kidnapping of its president, the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti by ICE in Minneapolis, the threat to implement the Insurrection Act and unleash the military against US citizens who protest, and the approaching dissolution of US-European alliances if Trump follows through with taking over Greenland have made it clear our government does not represent the people or the interests of democracy in the United States.

Greater New Haven-area peace groups have pulled out the stops, sometimes with four demonstrations within four days. We hope in the coming weeks that activists can send PAR reports of their excellent work of resisting fascism. Also welcome are flyers, “talking points,” and transcripts of rally speeches for us to print in future newsletters. Email reports, articles, photos, etc. to parnewhaven@hotmail.com.

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