DHS Fires Back After Danbury Council Votes 18-2 to Allow Noncitizens and DACA Recipients as Police
The Danbury City Council in Connecticut has approved a policy allowing non-citizen legal migrants and recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to serve as police officers.
The council voted 18-2 on September 1. Both dissenting votes came from Republicans. The decision has triggered a sharp response from the Trump administration, especially after recent arrests involving illegal immigrants in the city.
DACA recipients are individuals who entered the United States illegally as children and were later given temporary protection from deportation under the program. The Danbury policy now opens the door for them and other noncitizens to serve in law enforcement.
Video of the vote and the policy announcement circulated online through Libs of TikTok.
BREAKING: Danbury, CT City Council just voted to allow NON CITIZENS and DACA recipients to become police officers
They’re handing weapons to people to enforce the law who are not even allowed to carry
What is even happening pic.twitter.com/BHHO14uaH4
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 6, 2026
Democratic council member Joe Britton called the move “timely” and said it “sends a message to our immigrant community at large that you are welcome in Danbury.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson criticized both the vote and Britton’s comments in a statement to Fox News.
“(The City Council) should be thanking our law enforcement for removing these dangerous criminals from Connecticut — NOT vilifying law enforcement,” the spokesperson said.
“An oath of office is a commitment to upholding the law, not encouraging criminal illegal aliens to break it,” the spokesperson added. “While these people smear ICE, law enforcement is arresting criminals and saving countless American lives.”
The spokesperson also said, “the vilification of ICE must stop” because “America’s brave ICE agents put their lives on the line every day to enforce U.S. law and arrest criminal illegal aliens — including gang members, rapists, and murderers.”
The council’s vote came after more than 65 illegal immigrants were arrested in Danbury during August. The city has roughly 90,000 residents, and many of those arrested had violent criminal records, including convictions involving sexual assault and child molestation.
Fox News reported that Eddy Ruano, a Guatemalan national, was convicted of molestation of a minor, according to DHS. Another Guatemalan national, Ericko Valenuela-Chua, was arrested in Connecticut after being convicted of sex assault-carnal abuse, sex assault and assault.
A Nicaraguan national, Elvin Caceres-Martinez, was also arrested during the operation. His convictions included assault, a weapon offense, aggravated assault with a gun, aggravated assault of a non-family member with strongarm, and carrying a prohibited weapon.
Meanwhile, Ecuadorian national Frank Guaman, who was convicted of sex assault and false imprisonment, was also arrested in the operation.
The DHS response places the Danbury policy at the center of a broader fight over immigration, police authority, and the role of federal immigration enforcement. For the Trump administration, the issue is simple: law enforcement officers are expected to uphold the law, and officials argue that those duties should not be assigned to people who are not U.S. citizens or who have entered the country illegally.