Local immigrant advocates say they’re pleased with the protections included in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal, though it falls short of giving immigrants the strongest protection against federal immigration authorities.
Hochul’s proposal, called “Local Cops, Local Crime,” would void formal agreements between local police and federal immigration agencies, called 287g agreements, to work together on federal immigration enforcement. It would add protections against federal seizures of suspected illegal immigrants in public buildings such as schools and courthouses, and other measures.
It would not, however, ban local police from assisting ICE and Border Patrol in an informal manner, which is the protection immigrant advocates wanted most. The investigative news publication New York Focus recently published body-worn camera video from an Oswego County Sheriff’s Department deputy, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, that showed the deputy pulling over a vehicle. The deputy brought the driver’s passport back to his vehicle and called a federal Border Patrol agent. They agreed that the deputy would hold the vehicle and passengers in place for an extra half hour or more until a federal agent could arrive to arrest them on suspicion of illegal immigration.
New York case law says police cannot hold a traffic stop suspect longer than required to issue the ticket. Despite that, New York Focus said it documented several instances of Oswego County Sheriff’s deputies coordinating with federal authorities and holding detainees until they could arrive. Immigrant advocates say they have heard that this informal practice has taken place in many areas across the state.
“We're a little disappointed that they did not reach an agreement on the piece around local collusion,” said Jessica Maxwell of the Worker’s Center of Syracuse, which advocates for immigrants. “But we are very happy to see a number of really important measures that seem like they are going to be codified as state policy.”
“We weren't terribly surprised” by the lack of a ban on informal collusion, said Jonathan Parent of the Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network. “And frankly, we kind of think that this is something for a Governor who's obviously running for re-election and really doesn't want to risk the support of the law enforcement community.”
Advocates support a broader measure called “New York For All,” which would ban collusion. The final bill hasn’t been published yet and advocates hope an anti-collusion measure can still be added.
