On April 8, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong suggested that Avelo was freely choosing to “profit from” and facilitate “atrocities” that are “cruel by design,” in a letter addressed to Avelo CEO Andrew Levy. That same night, 28 of 30 New Haven alders signed a letter condemning Avelo’s decision to carry out deportation flights.

The following day, on Wednesday evening, over 60 residents protested the deportations at Tweed Airport. As of Monday night, a petition calling for an Avelo boycott had amassed over 32,000 signatures in one week.

“These cruel policies go against everything we stand for,” said John Lugo, executive director of Unidad Latina en Acción, an organization that attended the Wednesday protest. “[The policies] transport vulnerable people, including children and women, under inhumane, dangerous conditions out of the country, often without due process.”

Last Tuesday, Tong issued a series of questions to verify that Avelo will operate legal and humane flights, requesting a response from Levy by April 15.

Tong requested the company confirm that it will not operate deportation flights on which passengers are physically restrained without safe evacuation mechanisms, or for whom there is no valid order of removal. He made reference to a ProPublica investigation that revealed improper evacuation protocols and shackled passengers aboard ICE deportation flights.

“None of these abusive practices are required to secure our borders, promote public safety, or effectively enforce our immigration laws,” Tong wrote. “These flights are cruel by design and enormously wasteful of taxpayer resources, and no business should be complicit.”

He suggested that Connecticut’s continued support for the airline — including through its moratorium on aviation fuel taxes — would depend on its compliance with these demands.

Members of the state legislature’s Judiciary Committee said in an April 8 hearing that this could potentially be accomplished by way of modifying the Trust Act, a law that limits how state and local governments share information with ICE. The proposed modifications would additionally apply these restrictions to corporations, punishing companies in violation by revoking their contracts.

Additionally, 28 of the 30 alders of New Haven denounced the airline’s decision to operate deportation flights in a letter last Tuesday, condemning the decision as “profoundly out of step with the spirit and character of our city.” The letter urged Avelo to “unequivocally terminate any existing or planned contracts with DHS or ICE related to deportation operations.”

Of the two alders who did not sign the letter, Alder Gary Hogan said he is supportive of the letter’s contents and did not sign it due to a miscommunication. Alder Sal DeCola of Ward 18, a jurisdiction that includes parts of Tweed Airport, did not respond to requests for comment.

“We acknowledge the weight of these concerns and have received the feedback. We will be discussing these concerns with Connecticut leaders. We will have no further comment on the matter,” Avelo wrote to the News.

Carrying signs that read “New Haven won’t fly on fascist airlines” and “Bon voyage Avelo”,  dozens of members of Unidad Latina en Acción, Connecticut Climate Crisis Mobilization and Connecticut Shoreline Indivisible protested in front of Tweed Airport on Wednesday evening.

Organizers from the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, a group of local advocacy organizations, are planning a second protest at Tweed this Thursday and will give public comment at the HVN Airport Authority meeting this week.

“We know that people are being deported without due process,” Anne Watkins, an organizer with the coalition, told the News. “We know people are being deported to jails and other countries where the countries themselves are known for their human rights abuses. We know that there are deportations taking place for people who should have protected status in this country. I think people are responding to these horrific things that are happening.”

The protesters are just a fraction of those who have pledged to boycott Avelo. Tens of thousands of people nationwide have signed an online petition launched by the New Haven Immigrants Coalition, demanding that Avelo CEO Levy cancel the contract.

The petition, titled “We won’t fly Avelo until they stop ICE flights!” is currently one of the most popular petitions on Change.org. 

“It is truly amazing to see the outpouring of support across the nation,” wrote Tabitha Sookdeo,  executive director of CT Students for a Dream, a coalition member organization, to the News. “There is a swelling movement of community organizers in other states that want to participate. Across the nation, we hear a resounding call to treat immigrants with dignity.”

Avelo accounted for over 98 percent of passenger traffic at Tweed through 2024.

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Poor performance at New Haven’s Tweed Airport was key in pushing the airline to carry out deportation flights, according to an internal email from Levy to all crewmembers obtained by the News. Levy wrote that in the first quarter of 2025, the company will report its worst quarterly results since 2023, pushing the company to turn to more steady streams of revenue. 

“The primary reason Avelo’s performance did not meet expectations in Q12025 centers around New Haven (HVN), which until now has been a source of strength in our portfolio,” Levy wrote in the email. “After extensive deliberations with our board of directors and our senior leaders, we concluded this new opportunity [deportation flights] was too valuable not to pursue, as it will help us stabilize our finances and allow us to continue our journey.”

Avelo confirmed the veracity of the email to the News.

The airline will open a base at the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Arizona and designate three Boeing 737 airplanes to facilitate the flights, which will begin on May 12. The company has listed job postings for attendants for deportation flights. 

The announcement that Avelo would aid in deportations triggered condemnation from New Haven locals and officials, including a boycott petition that has amassed over 2,800 signatures as of Monday night.

Tweed performance suffers

New Haven is a hub for Avelo — making up over 50 percent of the airline’s business, according to the email. The airline markets itself as “Connecticut’s Hometown Airline.” Beginning service in May 2021, Avelo has since expanded service from the airport, with over 480,000 passengers traveling through Tweed New Haven Airport in 2024.

But in the first quarter of 2025, competition in the New Haven area market increased by more than twenty times the national average, according to the internal email.

In the email, Levy blames the airport’s weak performance in New Haven on three factors: increased competition from Breeze Airways and other airlines in nearby airports in Hartford and White Plains, N.Y., falling consumer confidence in air travel and overscheduling by Tweed Airport. Levy claims that the Tweed Airport management firm, Avports, had been ignoring scheduling rules that had been in place since Avelo started service at Tweed.

“These claims are both bizarre and untrue,” said a spokesperson for Avports. “The success and popularity of Tweed New Haven Airport over the past year are well-documented, driven entirely by the dynamic and thriving Connecticut market.”

The Avports spokesperson noted that Avelo Airways announced new routes and service increases in response to Breeze Airways starting service to the airport in December 2024. These flights have stressed airport facilities with increased passenger traffic and forced quicker turnaround times, he added.

The increased passenger traffic has additionally led to greater traffic congestion surrounding the airport. In response to complaints from local residents, the time between flights was increased to 25-30 minutes from the previous 15 minutes.

To ease Avelo’s financial woes, Levy suggested a “long-term” solution.

“I realize some may view the decision to fly for DHS as controversial,” Levy wrote. “Regardless of your personal views on current political events, I know we will all continue to focus on providing the high-quality service Avelo has become known for.”

“Having a portion of our company dedicated to charter flying, without exposure to fluctuating fuel prices or risk from macroeconomic factors, provides us with the stability to grow our core business, which is scheduled passenger travel,” he added.

Avelo will shut down its base in Santa Rosa, Calif., to free up one plane for the deportation flights, but will continue to fly routes from Las Vegas, Redmond, Ore., Burbank, Calif. and Palm Springs seasonally.

Backlash from New Haven and beyond

A group of local advocacy organizations, New Haven Immigrants Coalition, launched a petition on Sunday demanding that Avelo’s CEO suspend its contract with DHS. In the text of the petition, organizers commit “to boycott Avelo as long as they are profiting from ICE flights.”

“It feels like a slap in the face, because we’ve been doing such hard work,” said Tabitha Sookdeo, the executive director of CT Students for a Dream, a Coalition member organization. “The City of New Haven is so welcoming to immigrants to the extent [that] there’s a Welcoming City ordinance. Having Avelo participate in these types of contracts is just deeply unaligned with what it means to be a New Havener.”

Sookdeo said Avelo’s contract was “morally wrong,” especially as the Trump administration escalates a hostile campaign against immigrants across the country.

In a statement to the New Haven Independent, Mayor Justin Elicker condemned the contract as an affront to the city’s values and welcoming posture towards immigrants. 

“While no one objects to deporting individuals who have committed violent crimes, it is well-documented that the Trump Administration is violating basic due process rights when it comes to our immigrant community, and we need corporations to step up and stand up to the Trump Administration’s unconstitutional, illegal and inhumane actions – not to be complicit with them,” Elicker said.

The fallout from the decision is not only limited to New Haven. According to a termination letter the News obtained from Avelo, at least one Avelo employee based in Raleigh-Durham International Airport was fired after he made an online post encouraging Avelo customers to avoid the company in light of its contract with ICE. 

Avelo currently serves four scheduled international destinations.

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In a Thursday press conference, the city announced the launch of Via NHV, a publicly funded rideshare service that provides car rides across New Haven for a fare of $1.75 per one-way ride. Lower fares are available for low-income riders and seniors. The service offers rides in select regions of the city, including the west side of New Haven and in Fair Haven, where other transit options are less densely available.

The program, which launched as a two-year pilot program on March 11, aims to provide a low-cost alternative to buses, biking and walking, especially for city residents who do not own their own cars. In particular, city leaders hope the service will improve work commutes. There are 50,000 jobs within Via NHV’s service territory, according to Michael Piscatelli, the city’s economic development administrator.

“If you live on the west side of the city, or you live in Fair Haven, for $1.75, Via will pick you up and take you where you need to go,” Piscatelli said. “In the city, you have to get to Key Foods? They are going to take you. You need to get to the hospital, to work, or for other reasons? They will take you.”

New Haven is one of nine cities participating in the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Microtransit Pilot Program, a $19.5 million effort sponsored by the governor. The other eight programs launched last year and have completed more than 100,000 trips in total, according to Ben Limmer, the bureau chief of public transportation at CT DOT.

Since Via NHV launched in March, popular destinations have included Union Station, Yale New Haven Hospital, office buildings and supermarkets.

To use the service, city residents can download the Via HNV app, select a destination and receive directions to a nearby corner for pickup. The app will identify other riders who are headed in the same direction and group them together.

The initiative is one step in building a more redundant, diverse transit apparatus in New Haven, according to Sandeep Aysola, director of transportation, traffic and parking for the city.

“How do you build a system where you create choices for people?” Aysola said. “Microtransit is one of those pieces to fill that puzzle that’s around having some accessible transportation across the city.”

Via NHV is a partnership with Via Transportation, a company that operates public microtransit systems in more than 750 locations globally. To plan the New Haven implementation, Via staff synthesized census data to identify regions where the service would be most useful. Currently, Via NHV services are not available in much of eastern New Haven.

“We do not want to compete with or cannibalize the already good transit options that are available in New Haven,” Sara-Jessica Dilks, Via’s public relations principal, told the News. “It’s in these selective areas where perhaps the coverage is not quite as good, so that we’re extending the reach of traditional transit versus getting into a situation where everyone wants a minivan and could damage the ecosystem of the bus network.”

Under the pilot program, Via NHV operates six vehicles and employs roughly 15-20 drivers, according to Sophie Cappello ’20, an expansion principal at Via.

Like Uber and Lyft, drivers employed with Via NHV set their own hours. But instead of receiving payment per ride, drivers earn an hourly wage and can take breaks throughout the day without losing money. Drivers make $19.50 per hour for regular car rides and $21 per hour when driving wheelchair-accessible vehicles, according to driver Moriken Sangary, who worked for other rideshare services for more than 10 years.

“Driving for Uber and Lyft, some days I would come out with nothing, because I’m using my own money for gas,” Sangary said. “With this one, I’m driving. That’s all I’m doing.”

Via NHV operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day.

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The Board of Education approved the agreement last Friday. The new contract provides for a wage increase of $6 an hour over the course of the next four years, beginning with an increase of $2.50 for the 2024-25 school year. Local 217 UNITE HERE, Connecticut’s primary labor union for hospitality workers, represented cafeteria staff in the negotiations.

“This contract will see the most significant raises that the cafeteria workers in New Haven have achieved in decades,” Joshua Stanley GRD ’18, Local 217’s secretary-treasurer said. “This is a very significant achievement and event.” 

The additional $6 represents a 28 percent wage increase for the lowest-paid classifications of workers, according to Stanley. The contract also provides additional training for lead cooks.

Stanley emphasized that the raises will tangibly improve the lives of cafeteria workers.

“In terms of the jump forward this will bring for our members, this will get them back on their feet,” Stanley said. “Rent, food, bills have gone up so much in the past five years that while this is an historic contract that we’re all extremely proud of, what it will make possible is [for] people to afford the cost of living.”

Betty Alford, a lead cook at Truman School, said she was “so excited” about the new contract.

“They gave us what we wanted, and I’m thankful for it. I’m so grateful for it. I can do more things now, with this raise. I can buy more things now, because, before you’d have to penny pinch everything,” Alford said.

Negotiations between Local 217 and the school system began in June 2024. 

Earlier this year, in freezing January winds, cafeteria workers picketed in front of the Board of Education building to push for an agreement. The protests followed Local 217’s successful advocacy for workers at Omni New Haven Hotel.

Overall, Alford said, the contract negotiation process was “great,” although Stanley declined to describe it on the record. 

“We ought to mark this moment as a great example of negotiation without a great deal of extra clamor,” Edward Joyner, the secretary of the Board of Education, said at the Friday meeting. “I think it’s a template for future negotiations with union staff.”

The new contract will run through the 2027-28 academic year.

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Senate Bill 1267 gives these agencies permission to “adopt an expanded area of operation.” The bill is sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, who represents New Haven in the legislature.

Elm City Communities, New Haven’s housing authority, hopes the bill will encourage more mixed-income development, increase housing choice for Connecticut residents and mitigate the state’s affordable housing crisis.

“We are no different than any other developer, whether that’s a for-profit or not-for-profit developer,” said Shenae Draughn, president of Elm City Communities. “We have a proven track record of over 20 years of developing quality, mixed-income housing, which is affordable through market rate development.”

Currently, 40,000 families are on the housing authority’s waitlist for subsidized low-income housing, according to Draughn. An expanded jurisdiction, she said, would help Elm City Communities accommodate more of these people and address the state’s goal of 90,000 affordable units

The Housing Committee has seen multiple versions of the legislation in recent years, including bills that established a specific mile radius for expansion. The 2025 version does not include a particular radius. Johnny Shively ’15, the housing policy manager for Elm City Communities, says the change allows for greater flexibility and more opportunities for partnerships.

Most opposition to the bill comes from municipal governments and residents of smaller Connecticut towns, who are concerned about how expanded development would interfere with local authority.

“Municipalities – not external housing authorities – are responsible for managing growth, ensuring adequate infrastructure, and balancing community needs. They should retain the right to decide whether an outside entity develops housing within their borders,” Francis Pickering, executive director of the Western Connecticut Council of Governments, wrote in written testimony to the Committee.

Representatives from Elm City Communities contend that housing authorities would be subject to the same regulations as any developer and that the bill does not override local control. 

They also emphasized that expanded development would not only be available to current New Haveners or low-income homebuyers but also to families from diverse geographic and financial backgrounds.

Draughn emphasized that market-rate housing is not accessible to many recent college graduates and working families. One of Elm City Communities’ priorities, she said, is accommodating these home buyers.

“In Elm City Communities’ portfolio, we have developments that are two- and three-bedroom town homes as well as large multi-family developments,” Shively said. “So I really think that Elm City Communities has the ability to develop in a way that is consistent with any town’s vision for its character and its future.”

As for current New Haveners, Shively believes that an expansion would give low-income residents more options when deciding where to settle. 

“Deeply affordable housing is concentrated. It’s segregated,” Shively said. “In our state, most of the deeply affordable housing is located in just a few urban areas. New Haven is one of them. We just want to make sure that people have a choice about where they’re able to live.”

New Haven’s housing authority, or Elm City Communities, was established in 1938.

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The Connecticut General Assembly Housing Committee received testimony on 13 bills, including omnibus legislation to maximize equitable housing opportunities, proposed reforms to fair rent commissions and efforts to address rising rates of homelessness statewide.

Several representatives from the City of New Haven offered testimony, including Mayor Justin Elicker, who has described housing as one of his top priorities for state policy this year. He spoke in support of House Bill 6893, which would allocate $33.5 million in state operations funding to programs that “assist homeless persons.”

Elicker said New Haven would use this funding to uplift the city’s numerous partner organizations who support unhoused residents. He cited the Greater New Haven Coordinated Access Network, a coalition of agencies, medical providers and nonprofits that assist people experiencing housing crises.  

Between November 2023 and November 2024, according to Elicker, the city’s verified unsheltered population more than doubled from 257 to 633. 

The hearing follows a wave of protests against the city’s management of its ongoing housing crisis, including claims that shelters are failing to accommodate all unhoused people. 

Both Elicker and Eliza Halsey, New Haven’s community services administrator, testified that the city needs at least 500 new units of “permanent supportive housing,” and that they currently lack the funding to address these needs on their own. Elicker added that while shelters and warming centers are helpful short-term options, the city needs the state’s support to create stable solutions. 

“Many people struggling with homelessness right now are coming to that from very different reasons,” Elicker said. “A lot of the challenges we’re seeing are people that are struggling also with mental health and substance abuse disorders. It’s not just affordable housing that is going to help the situation. The supportive component of that is crucial to people having a long-term pathway to access.”

The committee also heard testimony on Senate Bill 12, which would “promote fair and equitable housing opportunities in every community in the state.” The legislation is in concept form — only containing two lines of text — and would encompass housing development of all kinds across the state, including affordable construction.

State Sen. Martin Looney, who represents New Haven and serves as Senate President Pro Tempore, is the leading sponsor for SB 12. He explained that high rents and unaffordable housing have limited Connecticut’s economic development, contributed to unfair evictions and exacerbated poverty.

“We are short of housing for the lowest-income people who, in many cases, are homeless because they cannot afford rent or cannot find anything to rent,” Looney testified. “We also know that people are unable to find affordable starter homes. We also don’t have enough of a mix and diversity of affordable housing in communities throughout the state. And we don’t have enough housing, period.”

Looney made reference to Mandy Management, a housing company that owns 4,000 units in 800 buildings across the Greater New Haven area, and said that landlords that have monopolized the market are able to hike up rent and force evictions, leaving tenants with few options. 

The Committee also considered a number of bills to reform Fair Rent Commissions, municipal bodies that address claims of landlord abuse and unfair rent increases. 

Wildaliz Bermúdez, the executive director of New Haven’s Fair Rent Commission, spoke in opposition to a bill that would require commissions to operate under the same procedural regulations as state agencies.

“The over-formalization of Fair Rent Commissions would hinder functionality and make recruitment difficult,” Bermúdez said. “Placing more administrative procedures on Fair Rent Commissions, with no plans to increase funding, only further strains already-burdened Fair Rent Commissions.”

The Housing Committee will hold another public hearing on Tuesday.

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Legislators considered older versions of Work Live Ride in their 2023 and 2024 sessions. The bill, backed by a coalition of nonprofits, lobby groups and municipal leaders, purports to fight urban sprawl, boost the supply of affordable and market-level units and conserve Connecticut’s natural resources.

During Monday’s 12-hour-long hearing, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Planning and Development Committee fielded dozens of comments on the bill’s promises and potential drawbacks, including threats to local zoning independence and decreased funding for municipal infrastructure projects.

“Sprawl is increasing. Traffic’s increasing,” Nick Kantor, executive director of Desegregate CT, the group backing the bill, said. “People are driving further to get to work. These are all things that we don’t want to happen because people deserve a better life and they can get it. It’s there for our taking.”

Work Live Ride, filed in the legislature as House Bill 6831, awards infrastructure funding to towns with “transit-oriented districts” — areas designed to boost dense mixed-use development around train or bus stations. New Haven’s Union Square, for instance, is one of those communities, and it is likely the city would receive funding if the bill were to take effect.

Many of those who testified in opposition to the bill represented small towns, including town selectmen and planners from wealthier communities in Fairfield County, which borders New Haven County. They raised concerns about a section of the bill that allows state agencies to “prioritize” infrastructure funding for communities that qualify as transit-oriented districts.

Opponents said that the language would mean a loss of funding for their towns, including support from previous state grants, and would infringe upon historic or protected environmental zones.

“Having us surrender a lot of our decision-making to a coordinator who’s going to be known as a ‘zoning czar,’ who could overrule our elected and appointed officials here in town, is troubling,” Fred Camillo, the First Selectman for Greenwich, testified. “I’ve yet to meet an official on a local level who thinks that’s a good idea. You should let towns govern themselves because they know what works.”

These speakers cited towns’ independent efforts to build affordable housing, which they say were successful because they relied on local planning, not state intervention.

Leaders at Desegregate CT, the coalition that helped to author and organize around the legislation, claim that these concerns are rooted in misinformation surrounding the bill. They cited language in the legislation that allows for local leaders to have autonomy over land use, receive public input and coordinate with environmental agencies like municipal inland wetlands agencies to ensure transit-oriented construction does not impact protected zones.

Some testimony in support of the bill directly blamed municipalities like Greenwich, whose housing stock has not grown significantly in the past few years, for inhibiting Connecticut’s housing market and discouraging prospective homebuyers from settling in the state.

“For decades these towns and cities have used their local control to legislate against housing affordability,” Zachary Oberholtzer, a member of People Friendly Stamford, said in his testimony. “In these exclusionary towns, we have one-size-fits-all luxury zoning where single-family homes own large lots – basically the most expensive and most infrastructure-intense way to house the least number of people.”

Despite resistance from some local officials and Republican lawmakers, activists say that the bill’s early hearing date is a sign of support from state leadership and the success of their ongoing organizing efforts.

The bill passed through the House last year with bipartisan support but ran out of time for a vote in the Senate. To boost the bill’s chances, Desegregate CT has organized meetings with 70 local Planning and Zoning Commissions to listen to leaders’ concerns. After these conversations, Kantor is confident that most municipalities would be eager to take advantage of the bill’s built-in support, even if they’re not on board yet.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if, after three years of this going and some cool projects get built in communities in Fairfield County, that Greenwich opts in later on,” Kantor told the News. “They’re going to see their economy increase, their … tax base increasing, and they’re going to see that it is going to drive positive impact.”

The Planning and Development Committee will host its next public hearing on Feb. 19.

Correction, Feb. 6: The article has been updated to accurately reflect what Kantor told the News.

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State officials are not the only power players investing in housing policy this session. They join a large chorus of voices — including activists and New Haven officials — calling for action on a host of issues, such as affordable housing options, zoning reform, tenant protections and homelessness.

Organizers promote tenants’ rights, transit-oriented housing

Grassroots efforts have taken center stage in that chorus.

Connecticut Tenants Union, for instance, is at the helm of a campaign for just cause legislation, which would guard against no-fault and “lapse of time” evictions after a tenant’s lease has run out. According to Luke Melakanos-Harrison, vice president of the CTTU, this type of eviction comprises 10 percent of evictions statewide.  

“[Just cause] basically takes away the number one way that we have seen abuses of power happen to intimidate and retaliate against tenants,” Melakanos-Harrison said. “Additionally, just cause will help slow down the investment strategy that’s running rampant in Connecticut right now, which involves speculative investors basically counting on being able to evict all of the tenants often to do a shoddy renovation job that’s cheaply done, and then double the rent.”

On Thursday, 10 state representatives stood with tenant organizers and proposed HB 6348 “to expand the protection of just cause eviction to all tenants.”

As the session moves forward, CT Tenants Union anticipates pushback from property owners and legislators who are landlords themselves. But Melakanos-Harrison is confident in the power of tenant advocacy.

“Tenants were not really participating in the political process until the past handful of sessions,” Melakanos-Harrison explained. “The Housing Committee has often been a low-profile committee that wasn’t getting a ton of attention and whatnot. And I think that the tenant movement in recent years has been changing that for the better.”

Activists are also organizing for Work Live Ride, a bill that has made rounds in the state legislature for the past three years. The bill would offer monetary support to municipalities that invest in affordable housing development near transit hubs such as train stations or bus stops. 

DesegregateCT, the coalition championing the bill, aims to fight suburban sprawl, or the overdevelopment of spaced-out single-family housing outside cities. The coalition claims the phenomenon promotes de facto racial segregation, inhibits the job market and threatens the environment.

“The amount of sprawl that we’ve seen in Connecticut is not economically feasible,” said Sebastian Torres, the policy director for DesegregateCT. “It is creating housing that no one can afford and is not taking proper utilization of different methods of transportation and all the work that the state and cities have put into building up their own towns and their capacities.”

Along with Work Live Ride, DesegregateCT and its dozens of member organizations are backing the Tenants Union’s just cause efforts, as well as increasing funding for the state’s Renters’ Assistance Program, which helps protect low-income families from homelessness.

City leaders push for state support on development, homelessness

For years, New Haven has come under fire from activists for its management of the city’s homelessness crisis and rental market. But Mayor Justin Elicker maintains that while the city is making an earnest effort to address both issues, meaningful progress will require state support.

According to Elicker, the city is particularly interested in a housing growth fund to supplement municipalities’ work on affordable housing construction.

“A lot of cities and towns are reluctant to grow and to build, and we’re just the opposite,” Elicker said. “We really want to build, but oftentimes, if we’re requiring a lot of affordable and deeply affordable units, it’s very expensive, and we need to find funding to close the gap on what it would cost to build at market rate versus what it would cost to build at market rate and affordable.”

Elicker also called for state support in building “supportive housing” for unhoused people, as well as assistance combating the substance abuse and mental health crises that often accompany housing insecurity. 

John DeStefano, former New Haven mayor of 20 years, said that housing is a state issue, which can’t be resolved through city-focused efforts alone. He lamented the state’s failure to set specific unit construction goals and general “lack of specific vision” in addressing  housing concerns.

DeStefano recommends that state legislators subsidize market-rate housing for middle-income, early-career home buyers, who he says are increasingly struggling to find affordable options.

“There are lots of folks who are working that have two adults in the household, who are facing challenges being able to afford a home that, frankly, my generation never faced,” DeStefano said. “So I think we’ve lost focus on staying in the middle part of the market, which I think would provide relief on the pressure of the conversion of affordable units to market rate units – i.e. gentrification.”

The Connecticut General Assembly’s regular session runs through June 4.

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According to the Unhoused Activists Community Team, or U-ACT, the city has shortened the time it gives encampments to vacate premises after notification of sweeping from 72 hours to none at all. Elicker denied any changes to the city’s policy and ensured that city officials provide at least 72 hours’ warning before clearing any encampments.

“We have an inauguration coming up next week, and I think [Elicker] feels emboldened,” Mark Colville, the lead organizer of U-ACT, said. “I think he feels like he can do whatever the hell he wants now.”

Colville also expressed frustrations about Elicker’s decision to shut off electricity in Rosette Village — a collection of tiny homes for unhoused individuals associated with U-ACT — this past summer on the hottest day of the year, threatening two residents relying on Rosette Village’s electricity for CPAP machines.

Thursday’s demonstration followed multiple clearings of a previous encampment that was established on the Green in October in protest of the city’s sweeps. Multiple participants were arrested for refusing to remove their tents, and others reported having their personal belongings confiscated by city officials.

“I was almost dumbfounded by some of the stuff that they were saying,” Elicker said after listening to the activists’ speeches. “That kind of rhetoric is just unbelievably in opposition to everything we stand for as a city.”

Elicker cited New Haven’s recent additions of shelters and warming centers, including the purchase of a Days Inn that was transformed into a shelter.

He added that the best way to make progress will be for the city to collaborate with groups like U-ACT, rather than U-ACT “demonizing” City Hall. He felt that their energy and advocacy could greatly contribute to the city’s support of the unhoused community, including its campaign to get more state funding for shelters and affordable housing.

“We do so much, and we do it really compassionately,” he said. “So to hear the kind of rhetoric and criticism that folks just said is really hurtful because there are many people in this building that really, really care about doing the right thing and supporting the unhoused community.”

At City Hall, activists also expressed concerns about warming centers reaching capacity and individuals being turned away as winter temperatures climb lower. They called on the city to create more affordable housing units and to allow encampments in public spaces rather than relying on shelters or warming centers.

In response to these concerns, Elicker said that shelters and warming centers won’t turn anyone away during “cold weather emergencies.”

Sean Gargamelli-McCreight, another U-ACT organizer, explained that Thursday’s occupation gave unhoused individuals an opportunity to stay warm and participate in a community space.

“We’re here to hold this space for all those in the city of New Haven who have been evicted, displaced … and make a statement that they are people who deserve dignity, privacy and the ability to maintain a home in safety without threat from criminalization,” Gargamelli-McCreight said. 

Tehuti-Mesmultulu Kiah, who attended the protest, said that the Rosette Village took care of him when he had nowhere to go, so he decided to support them at the protest.

Sidetracked on his way to Baltimore, Kiah was treated for a leg tumor at Yale New Haven Hospital. After not receiving respite time, he left the hospital and took refuge on the New Haven Green. Like many others, Kiah turned to the Rosette Village, where Colville has set up tiny homes for unhoused New Haveners.

Roughly 25 Yale students in U-ACT attended the protest. Student organizers highlighted Yale’s role in perpetuating the housing crisis, citing its billions of dollars in tax-exempt properties throughout New Haven.

“We all just really want to affirm that we really strongly believe that housing is a human right,” Arjun Warrior ’26 said. “People have the right to construct alternate forms of shelter … and we really just want to say that it’s such a shame and a pity and a disgrace that, instead of working to support our unhoused residents, the solution consistently has been to evict them.”

Students also drew parallels between the city’s encampment sweep and Yale’s removal of pro-Palestine student encampments in April 2024, which resulted in 47 arrests. Clearing encampments, Elicker “is literally calling for community members to die,” Ishikaa Kothari ’25 said. 

Students also thanked U-ACT and New Haven community members for supporting the protests in spring.

After the demonstration concluded, protestors briefly brushed with security personnel as they brought a tent to the second floor of City Hall, where Elicker’s office is located.

Outside City Hall, activists distributed hot food and coffee to community members. Colville made sure to include the previously opposed police officers on site, clarifying that they were always welcome to get food and drinks. 

“This is our tribe right here,” said Savage. “The true tribe of the heartbeat of the place that stands right here in this building today, we generate the wealth of community within each other. This is our tribe.”

The first U-ACT tents were cleared from the Green on Oct. 17, 2024.

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According to statistics from the Yale Career Management System, during the summer, at least 100 Yale College students worked in government — including posts on Capitol Hill, in the Biden-Harris White House and across several federal agencies. For liberal students hoping to contribute to Democratic legislative and administrative efforts, these staple opportunities are waning.

In January 2025, Republicans will maintain their majority in the House of Representatives and assume a majority in the Senate. Meanwhile, Trump has been at work designing a Cabinet that is poised to administer a hard-line conservative agenda. 

“If you’re an intern working in [Department of Justice] civil rights, or in any other office at the DOJ, the work that you’re doing should not depend on who’s in the White House,” said Gevin Reynolds LAW ’26. “I think what we saw during the first Trump administration, and what we’ve heard about Trump’s plans for a second administration, is that he will radically depart from that strong precedent of DOJ independence.”

Reynolds — who serves as the president of Yale Law Democrats — explained that some doors have closed for members of the club, including first-year Law School students who had hoped to pursue summer internships in the Department of Justice. He worries especially about the influence of Pam Bondi, Trump’s appointee for attorney general, a lawyer who defended Trump in his first impeachment trial and backed his false claims of wrongdoing in the 2020 election.

Mitch Zufelt LAW ’27, another Yale Law Democrats leader, echoed concerns about how “in-the-weeds” technical work in the federal administration, which should remain static between administrations, might be imperiled under Trump.

“A lot of folks in the Trumpian right are very interested in dismantling government institutions, there’s kind of an anti-institution sentiment there,” Zufelt said. “I’m concerned about how some of that technical work might just get cut completely, but in as much as it stays there, I wouldn’t expect that sort of thing to be tremendously impacted.”

Liberal students pursuing partisan legislative roles at the federal level will likewise have a smaller pool of job prospects.

Zach Pan ’27, treasurer of Yale College Democrats, worked in the Washington office of Rep. Jim Himes last summer. He plans to pursue another congressional internship this coming summer, keeping in mind that the Republican majority means there are fewer positions available — both for Democratic members and on committees.

He explained that it is difficult for progressive students to work for legislators whose agendas they don’t believe in.

“Historically, people have interns or [work for] members they don’t necessarily agree with,” Pan said. “But given the wide gulf between the two parties now and the fact that a lot of the moderate Republicans have lost, there’s very few people I see working for without compromising a lot of values I think are really important.”

Nonetheless, among the students the News spoke to, all were clear that they were no less enthusiastic about working in government following the election. For example, Zufelt described interest in working for state and local governments, where it may be easier to directly implement Democratic policy.

Pan also emphasized the importance of bipartisanship in policymaking. He highlighted issues like infrastructure and high prescription drug prices as opportunities to make meaningful progress in a Republican-majority Congress.

Jack Dozier ’27, communications director for Yale College Democrats, explained that the election does not deter his plans to work in the legislative sector. 

“I had hoped this summer to be working in a legislative body where we had at least one of the three majorities, but we don’t, and that’s okay,” Dozier said. “It’s still important to do the work, to put in the work, and to make sure that we make America a stronghold of democracy.”

Dozier has been volunteering with Democratic candidates since 2016. He thinks that campaigns may change who they decide to target messaging to, but that basic organizing tactics — conversations and canvassing — will remain important, especially as Virginia, Dozier’s home state, prepares for a gubernatorial election in 2025.

Among liberal Yale Law School students, potential internship sites include state attorneys general offices, public defenders and legal aid organizations.

“Our members are not simply throwing up their hands right now,” Reynolds said. “They’re not content with sitting on the sidelines when the rule of law, and so much of what we cherish in this country, seem to be under threat. Although there will be a change in the administration, there won’t be a change in our approach as Democrats to ensuring that our country moves forward.”

Trump will assume the presidency on Jan. 20.

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