NY police couldn’t partner with ICE under gov’s new proposal
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Governor Kathy Hochul proposed legislation that would prevent formal agreements to use local law enforcement personnel and resources in federal civil immigration enforcement. Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By Noah Powelson
Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday said that she would propose legislation that would prevent local police in New York from partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Hochul, who said ICE had been “unleashed on the American streets for the sole purpose of causing chaos, carnage and fear,” announced she was backing a new bill called the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act.” The bill, according to the governor, would prevent federal immigration agents from partnering with New York police officers and utilizing their resources.
The bill would specifically ban 287(g) agreements, formal agreements between ICE and local law enforcement offices that allow local police officers and resources to be used in federal immigration operations. According to the governor’s office, 14 New York law enforcement agencies across nine counties have signed 287(g) agreements with ICE.
The bill, if passed, would void the current agreements. It would also prohibit federal agents from using local detention centers for civil immigration enforcement, mass raids or transporting detainees.
“Over the last year federal immigration agents have carried out unspeakable acts of violence against Americans under the guise of public safety. These abuses – and the weaponization of local police officers for civil immigration enforcement – will not stand in New York,” Hochul said in a statement. “Today, I’m announcing new actions that will safeguard our communities against dangerous federal overreach and ensure that New York law enforcement is focused on keeping New Yorkers safe – not doing the job of ICE.”
Local law officers can and will still cooperate with federal agents during criminal investigations under the bill, as well enforce crowd control during protests against federal operations.
Standing beside the governor on Friday were a number of state and city law enforcement leaders and district attorneys, including Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“Let me be clear, the NYPD does not engage in civil immigration enforcement, period,” Tisch said. “That approach has never prevented us from working closely with federal partners – the FBI, the DEA, for example – on serious criminal matters…that cooperation is important and it continues, and this legislation does not interfere with that work.”
The legislative announcement was welcomed by legal advocates, including the Legal Aid Society, which also called on the state legislature to pass the New York For All Act, a bill that would further restrict cooperation between local and federal law enforcement.
“Governor Hochul’s proposed ban on 287(g) agreements that allow local law enforcement to collaborate with ICE is a welcome step toward protecting immigrant New Yorkers from harmful federal overreach,” a spokesperson for the Legal Aid Society said in a statement. “While New York City’s existing sanctuary and detainer laws already prohibit such collaboration, this measure is a significant step for the rest of the state, affirming that New York celebrates and protects immigrant communities.”
If Hochul’s bill is passed, New York would join six other states that already have 287(g) agreement bans on the books, including California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington.
