U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has begun an investigation of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to reports of abusive tactics, excessive use of force and unlawful detention of U.S. citizens by the government agency.

The investigation also follows death threats Rep. Corey Paris, D-Stamford, received after posting a message recently on Instagram reminding people to “stay aware of their surroundings, look out for one another and seek out trusted legal resources if needed” after he was alerted of multiple reports of ICE activity within his district. Paris’ post was reposted by Libs of TikTok, a far-right troll site that has previously inspired bomb threats and harassment. The group accused the state legislator of “doxxing ICE’s live location” and tagged the Department of Justice, saying “Charge him.”

Blumenthal said at a press briefing in Hartford that as a public official, Paris was performing his duty when he urged his constituents to be safe and aware.

“That kind of warning is the kind of advice by most public officials in the Department of Justice of the United States,” he said. “There needs to be a reckoning and accountability for ICE. There needs to be a leveling of responsibility for this incident that has been done by somebody within ICE.”

Blumenthal said he is asking questions of ICE, through the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, that relate directly to specific incidents that have been reported and the increasing number of those incidents, detentions, excessive use of force and abuses, which he said are more characteristic of a police state than a democracy.

Joined by immigration advocates and Paris on Tuesday, Blumenthal said he had sent an inquiry to the agency asking for certain factual information regarding recruiting, retention and compensation that may aggravate the problems of improper arrests, potential use of force and other abusive tactics. He also said he is inquiring of the records ICE is receiving and interviewing potential witnesses who have firsthand experience.

“Many of the victims have no ability to assert their rights,” he said. “They are in prison or deported before they can actively assert their rights.”

He said the progression of the inquiry will depend on how quickly and cooperatively ICE responds.

“To people who are in favor of strong immigration enforcement, you should also support holding government officials accountable when they break the law or they abuse rights, when they engage in tactics that are repugnant to our democracy and our fundamental values,” he said.

Asked if Blumenthal expects resistance to his inquiry, he said there may very well be.

“ICE has resisted scrutiny, so resistance wouldn’t surprise me, but you have the responsibility to hold them accountable,” he told the Courant. “We are going to pursue it the best we can given the limits of our being in the minority. This administration resists oversight.”

Paris said what he and his family have gone through pales in comparison to what so many immigrant families are going through.

“It is not fair nor is it appropriate or has it ever been appropriate in our democracy and our country to simply disagree and target elected officials because of the dissent they hold against the federal government and the current administration,” he said. “In fact our democracy has lasted for centuries and we have been strong as a republic because we have held truth to the idea that dissent does make our democracy stronger and in its absence we simply fall into a tyrannical and authoritarian government, which we can’t allow to happen.”

Paris said his biggest concern is for the safety of all people who might be targeted whether justly or unjustly.

“Yes, we should get rid of violent offenders in our country,” he said. “We must also remember they have rights under our Constitution as well. The Constitution of the United States says every person under U.S. jurisdiction has the right to freedom, has the right to liberty, has the right to due process as long as they are under our jurisdiction.”

Paris added that the attacks that are happening are not sporadic.

“These attacks are coordinated,” he said. “The attacks against elected officials and against immigrant families. Against those who speak out for simply having a difference of opinion under this federal government and the administration. They are a coordinated effort that will ramp up more and more over the next few years. We must remain completely solvent in our quest in ensuring people have their rights to the First Amendment. They have their right to speak out without there being fear of harm or retribution.”

House Republican leader Vincent Candelora and Rep. Greg Howard, House ranking member of the Public Safety Committee, responded to the press conference Tuesday charging that “Democrats are investigating law enforcement tactics while positioning criminals as victims.

“Senator Blumenthal’s criticism of ICE’s handling of people he himself called ‘dangerous’ criminals is contradictory and misguided,” Candelora and Howard said in a joint statement. ”Rather than undermining the men and women who enforce our laws, he should step away from the cameras and focus on solutions to the illegal immigration crisis he and his Democratic colleagues in Washington not only ignored but allowed to worsen throughout the Biden presidency.”

Asked how the incident has affected him, Paris said one thing he is focused on is morality and doing the right thing by all people regardless of their walks of life.

“It is hard for me to understand a world, where so many people claim to be believers or hold some kind of evident truth or belonging to a faith, that is so hateful to their fellow human person,” he said at the conference.

Sharing the challenges immigrants are facing, Tabitha Sookdeo of CT Students for a Dream, said the “investigation shines a light where so much cruelty has been hidden.”

“Over the weekend dozens of children were left without their parents, all right before the beginning of the school year,” she said. “This is a moment that demands moral courage because every day that passes more families are torn apart and in Connecticut we are feeling this deeply.”

She cited two high school students taken by ICE agents, including one in Meriden and another, Esdras, who attended Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven.

“Tomorrow his desk will sit empty,” she said of Esdras. “Instead of preparing for his first day of school he will be locked in a detention facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts, preparing to see an immigration judge.”

“Let me be clear,” she continued. “Connecticut residents don’t want our tax dollars to be used for this cruelty. We want our money to go toward strengthening our community and ensuring our schools have enough teachers and veterans and residents receive the health care they deserve.”

She added that undocumented immigrants pay over $96 billion into Social Security and Medicare, programs that they cannot benefit from.

Tanya Kimball, senior director of programs for Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, said ICE actions are the very definition of racial profiling based on skin color and languages people are speaking.

“American citizens, refugees, humanitarian parolees, those with pending asylum applications ... have been detained and many have been deported,” she said. “Our government works for the people — all the people. We stand with you against the violence.

“When any part of our community is threatened, we are all threatened. When violence is used to intimidate or to silence, it tears the fabric of who we are and who we aspire to be.”

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