DANBURY – One week after the city’s downtown was turned into a “ghost town” as ICE agents converged on the working immigrant population in and around Kennedy Park Latino and Hispanic-owned shops and restaurants are intentionally doing so.
On Wednesday, Sept. 2, most of those businesses are shutting down for the day and marching to make a point: “imagine a day without immigrants.” More than 60 businesses have signed on to close their doors for a day to show support for their brethren for the more than 65 immigrant workers and family members who have been taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in raids carried out last week in Danbury. The raids targeted those people who are undocumented immigrants, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Most of the people taken in such raids throughout the country under the Trump administration since 2025 do not have criminal records, reports show.
The businesses are calling for no work, no shopping and no school on Wednesday.
A flyer posted on many of the Latino and Hispanic businesses in Danbury called for “A Day Without an Immigrant.” “Danbury’s immigrant community is essential to the city and to our entire state,” the Facebook post said. “When immigrants are targeted and racially profiled, the whole community is harmed.”
A march sponsored by the Action Network is planned for 5 p.m. starting at Danbury Public Library Plaza, 170 Main St.
“In the last week, our neighbors were abducted in front of a day care, in a grocery store parking lot, driving to work, in front of their houses, and when dropping off their kids at a school bus stop,” a Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants Facebook post states. “Tuesday (Aug. 25) was the first day of school for our kids and as kids and parents were heading out to the bus stop or walking to school, they saw ICE vehicles lying in wait to hunt our neighbors, they saw cars left on the side of the road with lights still blinking as their drivers were violently ripped from their communities.”
A spokesperson for Mayor Roberto Alves told the Fairfield County Business Journal via email that Danbury Public Schools implemented a policy last week and going forward regarding school bus stops.
“The Danbury Public Schools have a policy which directs bus drivers to take children back to the school,” said Jason Nova, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Alves. “Staff will make appropriate contact to ensure the child is released to a family member or guardian.”
ICE agents in about a dozen unmarked, SUVs with no license plates abducted at least 65 Danbury residents who are Latino and/or Hispanic in raids spanning the week of Aug. 24-28. While the agents pulled over cars in business parking lots, outside a day care center that was across from a church, they also tailed school buses and took parents waiting to pick up their kids from school bus stops at the end of the school day.
As for the dozen or so vehicles left behind after the ICE abductions, the City of Danbury took care of clearing those, according to Nova. “Witness accounts have mentioned cars left behind,” Nova told the Journal. “If a vehicle (was) not retrieved, residents can call 911 and we will assist.”
As for reports that the owners of said vehicles were ticketed and fined for being left behind, Nova said that had not been an issue as vehicles were retrieved. An employee at Modzelewski’s Towing & Storage confirmed they had received no such calls for tows last week. In fact, that person said the towing service had an unusually low number of tow calls overall. Modzelewski’s is a licensed local emergency response provider that has a contract with the city.
Local advocate groups such as Danbury Unites for Immigrants noted that more than 40 families have been heavily affected by the raids, with many left scrambling to locate or recover vehicles after their loved ones “disappeared” during traffic stops.
