LIME ROCK, Conn.—The effect of the Trump administration’s crack down on undocumented aliens within the country is having a noticeable effect, according to some area residents, who anecdotally report that fewer Hispanic neighbors are coming out to local venues such as churches.
Concern about the welfare of the Hispanic community prompted Lime Rock’s Trinity Church and the nonprofit Vecinos Seguros (secure neighbors) to sponsor an Immigration Law Forum last Thursday with a presentation by attorney Glenn Formica.
About 50 people attended the session on April 10 to learn what they could do to help neighbors who may be in danger of deportation. Retired Rev. John Carter, director of Vecinos Seguros, opened the session by saying these are “crushing, crushing times.”
Vecinos Seguros first formed during the Covid pandemic when Carter sought ways to communicate with local immigrants. It lapsed during the Biden years and was reinvigorated following the 2024 election. It is composed of local residents concerned about the new administration’s stand on deporting those lacking legal status.
The group has now hosted two forums on immigration, the first in March with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, who discussed the state’s response to federal immigration enforcement changes.
Formica began his presentation last Thursday by saying the current political climate offers an “invitation to do something to make our lives mean something.”
He recounted how he had come to be involved in the less-than-lucrative business of immigration law, where most of his clientele cannot afford to pay their legal fees. “I had expected to have a practice focusing on zoning, to be an overachiever, with a beautiful wife and three kids,” he said. “In 1997, I started off to do fairly good job at it.”
But it was not to be. His first foray into immigration law came when he was working for a real estate law firm in Cheshire, Conn. He was approached by John LoSasso, a Franciscan priest who was pastor of a parish in the Bronx. He asked Formica to take on the difficult immigration case of a 15-year-old boy.
Formica knew little about immigration law at that time but couldn’t say no. He won the case. Encouraged, LoSasso continued to send him more cases.
“I was spending more time on immigration cases and was completely over my head,” Formica said. “But it all worked out. I was going to be an LL Bean lawyer, but never got the big boat or the plane. But if you are doing something that is helping other people, the universe will balance itself out.”
Oddly, Formica never learned how LoSasso got his name and never met the priest until late in LoSasso’s life. But soon Formica found himself deviating from his original career goals. In 2001, he launched his own practice in New Haven, focusing on immigration law.
Formica takes many cases pro bono or for far less than the usual fees. He is also attempting to train volunteers to help with the preparatory work for cases. “If I had more volunteers, I could do a lot more work,” he said.
Turning his attention to practical steps people can take to help undocumented people who are dealing with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E.), he emphasized the power of community. “What works is when the community comes together and starts this process of confronting this issue. There is hope there,” he said. “I have to speak for a lot of immigrants because they are so terrified of showing up. They are hiding, so you need to show up.”
He said if an undocumented person has an appointment with I.C.E. officials, a neighbor should accompany them and calmly offer support. “Stand up, make your vote count by helping people who are afraid. Help with the paperwork and put together the papers needed for a bond. The idea is not to give legal advice but to prepare the documents needed.”
Further, he said, the community can support families through social and emotional help. Who will help with childcare if a parent is detained? he asked. He said I.C.E. does not usually break down doors and arrest people in their homes, preferring to wait until the person leaves their home before apprehending them. Unfortunately, this can lead to children being left alone in the residence.
He cautioned his listeners never to be confrontational with I.C.E. agents. “If they come into your workplace, ask to see a warrant. Call your worker—you don’t want to harbor or obstruct. If they want to come into the church, invite them in. In all this craziness, the people you want to reach are those who carry out the law, to find a common ground so there is hope.”
Finally, it is necessary to find a lawyer who will take the case. “You need to find a legal community,” he said, admitting that it is not easy to find lawyers who will represent undocumented people pro bono. “There are few of them,” he said, “and we need to teach trial lawyers how to be immigration lawyers.”
A listener asked about students who are losing their visas and being removed from the country. Formica said it is a “new issue everyone is grappling with.” The students are not undocumented but have lost their status. “They technically have time before they become undocumented,” he said, adding that the cases might add up to a class action.
He said I.C.E. is using fear to achieve its goals. “More people are reporting to I.C.E. than I.C.E. has places to retain them,” he asserted. “They want people to be afraid. A lot of people are getting on planes and just leaving, but that doesn’t help anyone if they have a legitimate way of testing their residency.”
“I do hope we get organized in this state,” he concluded. “I hope money gets to clients in need. Humans are all shadow and light. If they really want to close the border and cut off cheap labor—basically fire the all-star team—they can do that. But what they are doing is not fundamentally humane.”
