DHS Disputes Sen. Chris Murphy's Claim That ICE Arrested Parents at Danbury School Bus Stops

Immigration enforcement in Danbury, Connecticut blew up into a national political fight this week, with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) accusing ICE of deliberately terrorizing children and the Department of Homeland Security calling his account "a work of fiction."

What Murphy said

On Wednesday, August 26, the first day of school in Danbury, Murphy posted on X: "This morning in Danbury, ICE was arresting parents at school bus stops. But it's more sinister. ICE waited until the kids were on the bus so when they are dropped off at the end of the day, they are alone, scared to death they can't find their parents." He said he was heading to Danbury, and later that day joined Gov. Ned Lamont, Rep. Jahana Hayes, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves at a rally in Kennedy Park, according to Common Dreams.

"ICE is not here to protect Danbury," Murphy told the crowd. "ICE is here to put Danbury into a state of terror." He also called on Congress to withhold ICE funding.

As Newsweek reported, Murphy did not immediately provide evidence backing the specific claim that agents waited until children had boarded buses before making arrests.

What DHS says happened

DHS confirmed one named arrest tied to the operation: Leonel Geovanny Morocho-Arteaga, a 28-year-old Ecuadoran national, taken into custody on August 26 during what the agency called a targeted operation. DHS told Newsweek he entered the country illegally, was previously arrested by Customs and Border Protection in July 2021 and released, and was found alone in his vehicle with a large kitchen knife in the center console. The agency said the stop "did not take place in the vicinity of a bus stop" and that his daughter is under the guardianship of her mother. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

"Any claim that ICE targeted parents at a school bus stop is FALSE," a DHS spokesperson said, calling Murphy's account "a work of fiction aimed at scoring cheap political points" and citing what the agency described as a 1,300% increase in assaults on officers, a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats against them.

Border czar Tom Homan echoed that Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," telling host Dana Bash "ICE isn't in the business of terrorizing children" and that agents are "enforcing the law that was enacted by Congress." Homan said he wasn't personally aware of the bus-stop allegation but would look into it, and confirmed ICE no longer operates under the Biden-era "sensitive locations" policy that discouraged enforcement near schools, hospitals and churches. DHS rescinded that guidance in January 2025.

The gap between the two accounts

Danbury officials describe something bigger than a single arrest. Jason Nova, deputy chief of staff to Mayor Alves, told Newsweek eyewitnesses reported agents waiting for children to board buses before detaining parents nearby, and said the city received unofficial reports that 50 or more people were detained in Danbury that week alone, with no advance notice from federal authorities and no explanation given. Rawstory reported additional enforcement activity in Stamford and Bridgeport the same week.

Alves went further at the rally, alleging racial profiling: "We're seeing racial profiling, random people being picked up off the streets," he said, according to Common Dreams, describing operations near a daycare and outside an elementary school on the first day of classes. El País reported Alves also said some of those detained were legal residents. None of these broader figures, the daycare incident, or the racial-profiling allegation were addressed by DHS in its public statements, which focused only on the single named arrest.

A video posted by the group Greater Danbury Area Unites for Immigrants, filmed from inside a moving school bus, shows unmarked vehicles on residential streets with voices identifying them as ICE. The footage documents an enforcement presence near a bus route. It does not by itself establish the specific claim that agents waited for children to board before arresting parents.

Where coverage diverged

Fox News led with Homan's rebuttal and DHS's assault statistics but did not include Mayor Alves' estimate of roughly 50 detentions or the bus-interior video. Common Dreams ran extensively with Murphy, Alves and Hayes' quotes without including DHS's identification of Morocho-Arteaga, the knife found in his car, or his 2021 CBP arrest record. Newsweek's account included both sides most fully.

The bigger fight in the background

The Danbury dispute landed the same weekend the Democratic National Committee, meeting in Austin, Texas, adopted a nonbinding resolution urging Congress to abolish ICE, alongside a competing reform-only measure sponsored by DNC Chair Ken Martin. Both were bundled and passed by voice vote Saturday, August 29, according to the Washington Times as cited by the Daily Wire. Martin said Democrats remain split between abolition and reform but united in opposing current enforcement tactics. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis called the move an embrace of "extreme radical" politics.

No independent investigation of the Danbury allegations has been announced by DHS, Connecticut officials, or any outside body. Whether the roughly 50 detentions Alves cited actually occurred as described, and whether any arrest happened near a bus stop as children watched, remains unverified beyond the dueling public statements from Murphy's office and DHS.