The biggest applause Gov. Kathy Hochul received during her State of the State address on Tuesday was a standing ovation after she announced she wouldn’t allow the use of state resources to assist in federal immigration raids.
Immigration advocates like Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, told Capital Tonight that he welcomed the governor’s comments.
“I think that the governor over the past year has really stepped up to defend immigrant New Yorkers and in her State of the State yesterday, she continued to push that forward,” he said.
If passed, the “New York for All Act” (S2235A Gounardes/A3506 Reyes) would prohibit local law enforcement from collaborating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It’s nuanced, but that description goes a bit further than what the governor stated on Tuesday.
Awawdeh urged the governor to pass the bill as written, pointing to a large settlement that Suffolk County on Long Island had to pay in damages to over 670 immigrants who were unlawfully detained by the county sheriff’s office.
“I think we should ask Suffolk County residents who are going to have to pay more in local county taxes because their county officials violated peoples’ rights and now that is going to mean an increase in their local taxes,” he said.
Under the umbrella of immigration, Hochul also proposed authorizing individuals to bring state-level civil actions against federal officials who violate their constitutional rights. Additionally, she proposed legislation that would require a judicial warrant to enforce civil immigration enforcement in sensitive areas including schools, childcare, health care and houses of worship.