ICE detention of West Hartford restaurateur prompts release request from Connecticut lawmakers

Four Connecticut Democrats are pressing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release West Hartford restaurateur Sead Cecunjanin, turning a local detention case into a broader political and legal fight.

The lawmakers sent a letter July 1 asking ICE to free Cecunjanin and to confirm that he is being held under humane and sanitary conditions. The request adds new pressure to a case that has already drawn attention in Connecticut because of Cecunjanin’s role as a local business owner and the effect his detention could have on his family and restaurants.

Cecunjanin was detained June 20 and is being held at the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, Rhode Island, according to reporting and the ICE detainee locator referenced by CT Insider. His detention has become a public dispute between his supporters and federal immigration officials.

Lawmakers push for release

The letter came from Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Reps. John Larson, Jim Himes and Rosa DeLauro. In addition to asking for Cecunjanin’s release, they asked ICE to confirm that he is being held in humane and sanitary conditions.

Their intervention reflects growing concern in Connecticut over the case. It also puts ICE under direct political pressure from members of the state’s congressional delegation while the detention challenge continues in court.

The lawmakers’ request also makes the case more visible beyond West Hartford. Cecunjanin is not only an immigration defendant; he is a restaurateur with business ties in the community, and that has given the case immediate local significance.

Competing accounts

The Department of Homeland Security told CT Insider that Cecunjanin entered the United States illegally in 1997 using a fraudulent Dutch passport. DHS also said he has a prior DUI conviction and a final order of removal from 1997.

Cecunjanin’s attorney disputes that account. The defense filing says Cecunjanin has no criminal history and asks a federal judge in Rhode Island to order his release while the immigration case proceeds.

The filings and the lawmakers’ letter also say Cecunjanin has a pending application for legal permanent residency. They say he received work authorization earlier in 2026 and was allowed to travel abroad to visit a dying parent while that application was pending.

There is also a dispute over where the arrest happened. Cecunjanin’s attorney says ICE arrested him outside his restaurant, while the family’s account and the court filing reported by CT Insider say the arrest happened in a nearby Dunkin’ parking lot.

Court review in Rhode Island

A federal judge in Rhode Island is now reviewing the petition asking for Cecunjanin’s release. That petition puts the custody fight before the court while the larger immigration case remains unresolved.

The legal review matters for practical reasons as well as procedural ones. Cecunjanin’s detention could affect his family and his businesses in West Hartford, and the outcome will determine whether he remains held while the case continues.

For now, the main questions are whether ICE responds to the lawmakers’ letter, how the Rhode Island judge rules on the release petition and whether additional filings clarify the arrest location, criminal history and immigration status at the center of the dispute.

The case fits into a broader pattern of political pressure on ICE detention practices, and Connecticut’s congressional delegation has been publicly critical of the agency in other recent cases. That background has helped turn Cecunjanin’s detention into a test of how far elected officials can push federal immigration authorities in a local case.

CT Insider first reported on the detention and the family’s push for release on June 29. Its July 2 follow-up added the lawmakers’ letter and confirmed that the Rhode Island court is now reviewing the request for Cecunjanin’s release.