The Daily Fuckup

The Justice Department filed its sanctuary-policy lawsuit against Connecticut and New Haven on April 13, 2026, naming Gov. Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, Mayor Justin Elicker, and the city along with the state. The complaint targets Connecticut’s Trust Act and related state and local policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities. DOJ says those rules interfere with immigration enforcement and are preempted by federal law. Connecticut’s response is the familiar one: the state says it is drawing a legal line around what local police are required to do, not blocking lawful federal action outright. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-connecticut-city-new-haven-over-sanctuary-policies))

In its press release, DOJ said the policies have “allowed dangerous criminals to be released into Connecticut communities” and called the state’s and city’s approach “open defiance” of federal law. That is the government’s allegation, not a court finding. The complaint was filed in federal court in Connecticut, and DOJ described it as part of a broader series of sanctuary-policy cases it has brought in other jurisdictions. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-connecticut-city-new-haven-over-sanctuary-policies))

The date matters because the filing was not a day-of-news surprise on April 17. It landed four days earlier, on April 13, and the public fight has been running since then. Connecticut officials have already been treating the case as a federal overreach claim, while the Justice Department is using it to argue that state limits on local cooperation amount to a legal obstacle to immigration enforcement. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-connecticut-city-new-haven-over-sanctuary-policies))

There is also a larger pattern here. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has separately been suing the Trump administration over federal funding and other policy fights this spring, including a March 23 challenge over USDA funding conditions. That does not merge into the sanctuary case, but it does show the state and the administration are already locked in more than one courtroom battle. ([portal.ct.gov](https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2026-press-releases/ag-tong-sues-trump-administration-for-holding-hostage-billions-in-critical-usda-funding))

For now, the central fact is simple: DOJ has put Connecticut’s Trust Act and New Haven’s related policies in front of a federal judge and is asking for them to be struck down. The state says those rules are lawful boundaries on local policing. The court will decide whether those boundaries stand. ([justice.gov](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-connecticut-city-new-haven-over-sanctuary-policies))