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White House Press Sec. calls out Gov. Malloy on immigration letter sent to Connecticut police, schools

HARTFORD — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called out Connecticut’s Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy during Thursday’s press briefing...

HARTFORD -- White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer called out Connecticut's Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy during Thursday's press briefing.

Wednesday, Gov. Malloy and other state officials sent a letter to police chiefs and school superintendents with guidance on how to respond to President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration matters and subsequent memos from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The letters were sent Wednesday to heads of all law enforcement agencies, including college campus security officials, as well as superintendents.

Law enforcement officials are being told they should not take action solely to enforce federal immigration law, noting how the federal government cannot mandate states to investigate or enforce actions that have no connection to the enforcement of Connecticut laws.

For schools, officials are suggesting any requests from an ICE officer for student information or access to a student should be referred to the district's superintendent's office.

"The idea that Governor Malloy would not want the law followed as enacted by Congress or by the Connecticut legislature in any fashion seems to be concerning, right?" Spicer said. "You, you, whether you're a governor or a mayor or the president, laws are passed in this country and we expect people and our law-makers and our law enforcement agencies to follow and adhere to the laws as passed by the appropriate level of government. So it's obviously concerning, I think, and it's troubling that that's the message that he would to his people and to other governors...If you are a sanctuary city, declared or undeclared, if you are providing benefits or services, we are gonna do everything we can to respect tax payers and insure that your states follow the law."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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