Gov. Hochul’s proposed protections for NY immigrants fall short, policy advocates say

The proposed immigrant protections touted by Gov. Kathy Hochul in her State of the State address don’t go far enough, the leaders of some advocacy groups said.

Rosa Cohen-Cruz, immigration policy director for The Bronx Defenders and a spokesperson for the New York For All Coalition, said Hochul’s proposals — which include a measure barring the use of state resources for immigration enforcement — “fall short of what is required.”

She called on Hochul to support the New York for All Act, a pending state bill that would block both state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws and sharing sensitive information with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, absent a judicial warrant.

Other immigration advocacy leaders more gently nudged Hochul toward the more comprehensive New York for All Act, which they said would accomplish some of the aims supported by the governor.

“We thank Governor Hochul for committing to not using state resources for federal immigration enforcement, and New York For All is the comprehensive bill that will end collusion with ICE without a judicial warrant,” Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the statewide nonprofit New York Immigration Coalition, said in a statement.

Hochul touted three measures supporting immigrants in New York who lack permanent legal status, including creating new avenues for those harmed by abusive practices to bring legal claims against ICE officers. New York state is home to an estimated 780,000 “undocumented” individuals, according to data from the Center for Migration Studies.

The measures come as state and local governments, mostly in Democrat-led cities and states, face stepped up immigration enforcement from the Trump administration. Tactics by enforcement agents — including the fatal shooting by an ICE agent of a 37-year-old U.S. citizen in Minneapolis last week — have drawn sharp criticism across the country.

“Protecting New Yorkers also means this: standing up to ICE agents who abuse their power,” Hochul said at her address on Tuesday. “What we’ve seen lately has gone too far, and enough is enough.”

The New York for All bill has gained traction in recent weeks, gaining a powerful new ally in state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, a Yonkers Democrat. Several members of Congress also signed a letter calling on Hochul and other state leaders to back the bill.

But Hochul hasn’t come around to publicly supporting the bill. A spokesperson for the governor said she will review the bill if it passes both houses of the Legislature.

Hochul said she plans to back a state sanctuary policy, which would prohibit the use of state resources in furtherance of federal immigration enforcement on individuals who have not committed serious crimes.

A spokesperson for Hochul said the restrictions sought by the governor would also apply to local governments’ use of certain state funds. The policy would be tied to the receipt of future state-funded public safety grants. Technology or personnel paid for by those grants could not be used to support federal civil immigration enforcement, the spokesperson said.

Local government and law enforcement agencies, however, could still use their own resources for civil immigration enforcement.

Hochul also said in her Tuesday address that she will also seek to prohibit ICE officers from entering schools, day care centers, hospitals, and houses of worship for civil immigration enforcement unless they have judicial warrants. The Trump administration lifted restrictions on enforcement at such “sensitive” locations when it returned to the White House last year.

Hochul said she would also look for ways to further litigation by New Yorkers bringing civil claims against ICE. Additional details about the proposals will be unveiled when Hochul submits her state budget proposal, a Hochul spokesperson said.

Natalia Aristizabal, the deputy director of Make the Road New York, also urged Hochul to support the New York for All bill.

“We welcome Governor Hochul’s statement that she would bar state resources from assisting in federal immigration raids,” Aristizabal said in a statement. She added, “Let’s be clear: New York for All is the only legislation on the table that would accomplish that this session.”

State Republicans, who are in the minority, have said they would oppose legislation limiting cooperation with immigration agents. State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, of Niagara County, told Gothamist on Monday that the federal government is making the state safer.

“The fact that you have people in the streets of these cities going out of their way to go after ICE, make their job more difficult, I think that’s criminal and disgusting,” Ortt said.