Immigrant advocates demand local jails stop working with ICE

In the wake of the high-profile detention of a mother and her three children upstate by federal immigration agents, immigrant advocates are once again demanding that state lawmakers pass legislation banning jails and prisons in New York from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It’s one of several measures that activists are pushing for, as New York officials have largely taken a hands-off approach to strengthening immigrant protections since President Donald Trump started his mass deportation efforts.

The Dignity Not Detention Act would make it illegal for local governments to contract with ICE to hold immigrants at correctional facilities. The most significant example of that cooperation is the Orange County Correctional Facility, which as of last month held more than 80 immigrants detained by ICE. Only the federal ICE detention facility in Batavia holds more detained immigrants in New York. Clinton County Jail also works with ICE to serve as an immigrant detention center. Three counties – Nassau, Rensselaer and Broome – have signed agreements with ICE that permit their local jails to hold immigrants in order for them to be picked up by federal officials.

While the Dignity Not Detention Act would not prevent immigration-related arrests in New York, supporters say it’s important for the state to minimize its cooperation with ICE. “We are living in a very scary and difficult time,” said Assembly Member Karines Reyes, who sponsors the bill. “This piece of legislation was meant to really carve us a line in the sand about what our New York values are.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul has cranked up her rhetorical defenses of immigrants in New York following statements from last year that drew criticism from advocates. On Tuesday, she blasted the Trump administration after ICE detained a woman and her three school-age children while officials served a warrant for a different individual upstate. “I cannot think of any public safety justification for ICE agents to rip an innocent family, including a child in the third grade, from their Sackets Harbor home,” Hochul said in a statement. “That is not the immigration enforcement promised to the American people. It's just plain cruel.” She demanded the immediate return of the family.

However, the governor has not signaled support for any number of bills that immigration advocates are pushing in the state Legislature. After activists praised Hochul for what they perceived as backing the New York for All Act – which would codify and expand sanctuary protections statewide – her office denied that she has taken any position on the bill. Her executive budget proposal included $44 million for immigrant legal services, far less than the $165 million that advocates want. As for the Dignity Not Detention Act, a spokesperson for Hochul said she would review the legislation if lawmakers approve it.

Neither legislative chamber has advanced major immigration-related legislation yet this year, including the Dignity Not Detention Act. Lawmakers passed the Protect Our Courts Act in 2019 during the first Trump administration, which prohibits ICE agents from making arrests in and around courthouses barring a warrant signed by a judge. But in spite of the hopes of some legislators that New York would take swift action to pass additional protections to combat mass deportation efforts, the Legislature has not passed any of the major bills that advocates want. 

In the meantime, the ICE presence in New York has increased, with two new counties signing cooperation agreements and border czar Tom Homan promising to flood the state with immigration agents if state officials don’t cooperate with the federal government. The U.S. Department of Justice is also suing New York over a 2019 law that permits undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses but limits federal access to Department of Motor Vehicle data. 

“I have to be honest that I'm very disappointed in the way that New York state legislators have been ignoring this issue on immigration,” said Tania Mattos, executive director of the immigrant advocacy group UnLocal.