Press Releases

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• 7/4/2019 AG TONG APPLAUDS NINTH CIRCUIT DECISION THAT MAINTAINS RULING BLOCKING CONSTRUCTION OF BORDER WALL

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement today regarding the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal's decision to deny the Trump Administration's emergency motion for a stay of the district court's order blocking construction of a border wall in California, New Mexico and Arizona with funds that were unlawfully diverted, while the appeal is pending.

• 9/16/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS AMICUS BRIEF DEFENDING WOMEN'S ACCESS TO CONSTITUTIONALLY-PROTECTED ABORTION SERVICES

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general across the country in filing an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, challenging a Kentucky state law that would ban physicians from providing second-trimester abortion services using the most common and safest procedure available for women after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

• 12/26/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTISTATE EFFORT TO PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF ASYLUM-SEEKERS

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general, led by California, in filing a comment letter to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security to protect the rights of asylum-seekers from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The letter opposes a new Trump Administration interim rule that will allow DOJ and DHS to remove asylum-seekers to countries where they face continued violence and persecution, and where inadequate justice systems cannot protect them.

• 10/1/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG ANNOUNCES COURT VICTORY TO COMPEL EPA TO REGULATE INTERSTATE SMOG POLLUTION

• 7/28/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, COMMISSIONERS SAADI AND SEAGULL CALL ATTENTION TO SERVICEMEMBER RIGHTS DURING MILITARY CONSUMER PROTECTION MONTH

  Attorney General William Tong, Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Thomas Saadi, and Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull today marked Military Consumer Protection Month by drawing attention to key laws helping to reduce financial pressures on servicemembers while deployed.

• 9/2/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTISTATE COALITION IN SEEKING PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION TO HALT TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RULE ALLOWING INDEFINITE DETENTION OF CHILDREN

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of attorneys general, led by California and Massachusetts, in filing a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the Trump Administration’s new rule circumventing the Flores Settlement Agreement, which has governed the treatment of children in immigration custody since 1997.

• 6/11/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS AMICUS BRIEF OPPOSING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S REQUEST FOR EMERGENCY STAY OF PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION IN SIERRA CLUB V. TRUMP

  Attorney General William Tong, as part of a 20 state coalition, filed an amicus brief before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Sierra Club, et al. v. Trump, et al., a case challenging President Trump’s unlawful diversion of funds toward construction of a border wall. The ACLU represents the Sierra Club and Southern Border Communities Coalition in the lawsuit. The brief urges the court to deny the federal government’s emergency motion for a stay of the preliminary injunction granted by the district court in Sierra Club’s case, blocking President Trump from commencing border wall construction in New Mexico and Arizona with funds that were unlawfully diverted. The federal government has now appealed that ruling.

• 4/16/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, CONSUMER COUNSEL KATZ SUPPORT BAN OF “AUTO-RENEWALS” IN THIRD-PARTY ELECTRIC SUPPLIER CONTRACTS

  Attorney General William Tong and Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz today urged legislators to pass the comprehensive suite of protections for existing and prospective customers of third-party electric suppliers in House Bill No. 7155, An Act Concerning Consumer Protections for Customers of Electric Suppliers, including a proposed ban of so-called “auto-renewals” of third-party supplier contracts with residential consumers.

• 10/10/2019 PUBLIC CHARGE WIN: COURT ISSUES NATIONWIDE INJUNCTION AGAINST RULE—ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG, GOVERNOR LAMONT ISSUE STATEMENTS

  Attorney General William Tong and Governor Ned Lamont released the following statements today after a federal judge in New York issued a nationwide injunction blocking implementation of the Trump administration’s new Public Charge Rule.

• 2/20/2019 AG, DCP URGE CONSUMERS TO USE PAYLESS SHOESOURCE GIFT CARDS BEFORE RETAIL OUTLET SHUTTERS ITS U.S. STORES

  Attorney General William Tong and Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull today advised Connecticut consumers who may have unused gift cards to Payless ShoeSource to use those credits before the discount shoe chain is slated to close its U.S. stores.

• 12/19/2019 AG TONG JOINS COALITION IN SUING OVER TRUMPS REPEAL OF CLEAN WATER RULE

  Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general today in suing the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) for rolling back regulations fundamental to improving and maintaining the health of the nation’s waters. The Trump Administration’s “Recodification Rule” repeals the Clean Water Rule, a science-based Obama-era federal regulation that ensured the nation’s lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands received proper protection under the Clean Water Act.

• 10/16/2019 TONG SEEKS EXTENDED LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FORMER ARGOSY AND ART INSTITUTES STUDENTS

  Attorney General William Tong has joined a bipartisan coalition of 30 state attorneys general urging U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to expand loan forgiveness eligibility for students who were enrolled in schools operated by the Dream Center Education Holdings, LLC (DCEH). The letter details extraordinary misconduct and mismanagement by DCEH, which prevented students from obtaining degrees, and unfairly left them to repay federal student-loan debt from their time attending the failed schools.

• 2/10/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS 31 ATTORNEYS GENERAL IN SIGNING MULTI-STATE LETTER SUPPORTING FTC IDENTITY THEFT RULES

  Attorney General William Tong today joined 31 other attorneys general in sending a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging the FTC to continue its Identity Theft Rules, which were initially adopted in November 2007.

• 10/14/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG STATEMENT ON STAY OF DEPORTATION FOR WAYZARO WALTON

  Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement today regarding the stay of deportation granted by the Board of Immigration Appeals for Wayzaro Walton.

• 5/23/2019 ATTORNEY GENERAL TONG JOINS MULTISTATE COALITION TO OPPOSE FEDERAL ROLLBACK OF OVERTIME PROTECTIONS

  Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 15 state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) not to adopt its proposal which reverses federal overtime protections for workers.