Albany, NY – Today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced an update to her immigration proposal that would allow local police to collude with ICE when they believe they have probable cause to charge someone with a crime. In response, Immigration Policy Director Rosa Cohen-Cruz issued the following statement on behalf of The Bronx Defenders:

“By allowing local law enforcement to essentially decide who to hand over to ICE and when, the Governor’s proposal will do the opposite of what she claims. It will not create a clearly defined barrier to collusion, but instead offer law enforcement broad authority to work hand-in-hand with ICE, opening the door to arrest and transfer decisions driven by anti-immigrant animus and racism.

“As public defenders, we see every day in the criminal legal system how law enforcement uses probable cause as a reason to arrest and detain someone that often turns out to be based on nothing evidentiary. If police are allowed to use such thin and prone-to-error discretion to work with ICE, it will only increase the number of people who are funneled into ICE’s cruel and deadly mass deportation machine. The consequences will be more families separated, more destabilized communities, and even weaker constitutional protections as due process is further from reach.

“Governor Hochul offered condolences to Mr. Nurul Shah Alam’s family, and continues to reference his death as motivation for her actions, yet her proposal would have done nothing to prevent his death. The Governor must stay focused on addressing how collusion with ICE actually operates, and endorse clear, consistent protections for all New Yorkers based on what will prevent collusion, not enable it. That means passing The New York For All Act.”

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