New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed banning formal cooperation agreements between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing that immigration enforcement should not come at the expense of community trust or public safety.
At a press conference in Manhattan, Hochul unveiled legislation that would outlaw so-called 287(g) agreements, which allow local police or jails to assist ICE with civil immigration enforcement. Eleven municipalities in New York currently have such agreements, including Nassau County, whose arrangement has drawn particular attention.
Hochul said local police should focus on “local crimes,” not civil immigration matters, and emphasized that ICE has sufficient resources of its own, as City and State New York reported. “We’re sending a strong message to ICE: You will not weaponize local police officers against their own communities in the state of New York,” she said…