On Thursday, April 16, as budget negotiations in the New York State Capitol were once again delayed by four days, Governor Hochu announced a significant allocation in her budget plan to protect immigrants: legislation that prohibits local law enforcement from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in overzealous enforcement, and banning ICE agents from conducting raids in New York while wearing masks.
Hochu stated that she has made “substantial progress” in budget negotiations with state lawmakers in the past few days, particularly garnering support from the state legislature for her proposal aimed at safeguarding immigrants in New York.
“We are advancing a proposal I first introduced on January 30, which we call the ‘Local Cops, Local Crimes Act’,” Hochu said. “The core of this proposal is very simple, it clearly states that local police should focus on local crimes: maintaining street safety, responding to emergencies, combating gun traffickers and violent criminals, and protecting the communities they are most familiar with.”
The Governor noted that many law enforcement officers in New York support this proposal, expressing a desire to focus on serving the communities of taxpayers who fund their salaries and fulfilling their duty to protect the public, rather than carrying out ICE’s work.
Nassau County on Long Island has been collaborating with ICE and had 10 officers trained by ICE to specifically assist in the apprehension of undocumented immigrants. This model is referred to locally as the first-of-its-kind “287(g) full agreement” in the U.S. Hochu’s legislation will prohibit this cooperation.
“ICE is a very well-funded agency, I believe their current budget exceeds $85 billion,” Hochu stated. “Therefore, local law enforcement should not be burdened with the responsibilities of ICE, should not be exploited by ICE to target their own communities, and should not go after families who are law-abiding, working, contributing to society, and following the rules.”
Hochu clarified that this does not mean that local law enforcement will not cooperate with ICE in apprehending individuals involved in criminal activities. “We will always assist federal law enforcement in tracking, apprehending, and assisting in the prosecution of individuals accused of violent crimes and serious offenses – just as we have in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Our policy in this regard remains unchanged.”
However, crossing the border without legal permission will not be considered a crime in New York under Hochu’s legislation if it is the sole violation. “Many individuals arrived here legally during the previous administration but had their legal status revoked later on,” Hochu stated.
Therefore, moving forward, local police will be prohibited from cooperating with ICE in the arrest of undocumented immigrants and ICE will not be allowed to conduct raids in places such as schools or places of worship.
Additionally, New York State will also ban ICE agents from wearing masks.
“Other federal agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) do not do this; local law enforcement also does not do this, so why should ICE have powers that we do not allow other law enforcement officials to have?” Hochu questioned. “If you are enforcing the law, you should not hide behind a mask.”