NDLON to New York Governor: Your Anti-ICE Proposal Doesn’t Fix the Problem

LONG ISLAND, N.Y., Jan. 30 — Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced today that she was introducing comprehensive legislation to make sure that New York law enforcement is not doing the job of ICE. She said her proposed bill, the “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” would protect New Yorkers in various ways, mainly by abolishing the so-called 287(g) agreements that deputize local police and sheriff’s departments as ICE’s partners in enforcing civil immigration laws. She claimed these measures “safeguard our communities against dangerous federal overreach.”

The following is a statement from Nadia Marin-Molina, Co-Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON):

“Yes, we need to get rid of 287(g) agreements. We’re all better off if local cops and sheriff’s deputies stick to fighting crime and protecting the public instead of being ICE’s junior partners in the streets and local jails.

“But  this attempt by Gov. Hochul to ride a wave of opposition to ICE’s lawless brutality is not the “comprehensive” solution she claims it is. It’s incomplete. It doesn’t prohibit local jurisdictions from freely sharing information with the feds and sending New Yorkers into ICE’s clutches. It doesn’t prohibit local jurisdictions from using public resources to facilitate ICE’s racial profiling and brutal tactics in the streets. 

“It doesn’t draw the clear, bright line we need to keep President Trump’s law-breaking, rampaging masked militia out of our courts, jails, out of our workplaces and homes, and off our streets. There is a bill to do just that – the New York for All Act – that has broad support in the Legislature and across our state. That is the bill Gov. Hochul needs to support.

“Across the country, regular people on the streets, immigrants and their allies, friends and neighbors, have led the against ICE and Border Patrol atrocities. Some have paid the ultimate price for their courage and impassioned advocacy. We urge Gov. Hochul: Follow the people’s leadership. Be a leader yourself. Give us New York for All.”