Legal Aid Society, the oldest and largest organization in the United States, assured that the new proposal by the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, which would allow cooperation between police and ICE agents in certain cases opens the door “to discrimination and abuse.”
“Any policy that grants state or local law enforcement broad discretion to collaborate with federal immigration authorities risks opening the door to discrimination and abuse,” the NGO notes in a statement.
According to the New York-based Legal Aid Society, this can lead to an “erosion of trust between immigrant communities and local institutions.”
Hochul proposed Thursday allowing police to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if there is “probable cause” that a person has committed a serious or violent crime.
Several immigrant defense groups in New York, such as Immigrant Defense or Se Hace Camino Nueva York, already warned yesterday that this cooperation “would amount to tolerating and encouraging any collusion between local law enforcement and ICE.”
For its part, the Legal Aid Society urges the governor to reinforce her proposal by enacting the law ‘New York for All‘, which would establish “clear limits at the state level for such collaboration” between ICE agents and police forces.
“New York must adopt policies that unequivocally protect immigrant communities, uphold due process, and ensure that all New Yorkers can access the courts, use public services, and live their lives without fear,” the organization emphasizes.
Democrat Hochul’s proposal, which must be included in the state budget – whose approval is delayed – comes after immigration agents killed two Americans, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in separate incidents earlier this year.
They criticize Governor Hochul
Immigrant advocacy groups in New York attacked the state’s governor, Kathy Hochul, for her proposal to allow police to collaborate with immigration agents if they have an arrest warrant for “probable cause” that an individual committed a crime.
Hochul met on Thursday with state legislators with whom he discussed his proposal, which must be included in the budget whose approval is delayed, on the relationship with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), after incidents that occurred at the beginning of the year where two Americans were killed.
Hochul has proposed that ICE cannot conduct raids on sensitive locations such as churches or schools, and would prohibit police from cooperating with immigration agents, using local jails and covering their faces.
“Local police officers should focus on local crimes, keep our streets safe, respond to emergencies and pursue gun traffickers and violent criminals,” Hochul said at another event after finishing his meeting with legislators.
“This is something that many law enforcement officials want, to focus on the communities where taxpayers pay their salaries to do their job and protect them” but not on doing the work of ICE, he added.
However, what has generated criticism is allowing the Police to cooperate with ICE if there is “probable cause” that a person has committed a serious or violent crime, but not for an infraction or violation, since the organizations consider that it will be used arbitrarily.
«’Probable cause’ is nothing more than an arbitrary whim at the initial moment of arrest. Therefore, the proposal to legislate to allow law enforcement to use this criterion would essentially amount to tolerating and incentivizing any collusion between local law enforcement and ICE, where they can articulate any pretext to file criminal charges,” said Yasmine Farhang, executive director of Immigrant Defense.
Another NGO, Se Hace Camino Nueva York, stated that collaboration for ‘probable cause’ is a “setback” in the effort to protect all New Yorkers from attacks by immigration agents.
“We are seriously concerned that this part of the general proposal could embolden police to turn New Yorkers over to ICE based solely on their own discriminatory biases,” said Natalia Aristizábal, co-executive director of that organization.
Aristizábal urged the legislature to approve Senator Andrew Gournardes’ ‘New York for All’ proposal, which includes broader protections for immigrants.
Some lawmakers have expressed concern that the proposal could undermine an existing executive order aimed at protecting immigrants and that the probable cause provision is a step in the wrong direction, according to local media.
