New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Tuesday that her office would deploy trained legal observers to monitor federal immigration agents across the state.
The Legal Observation Project will allow the office of the attorney general (OAG) to collect reports of significant immigration enforcement actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol and, when appropriate, send personnel to monitor and document enforcement activity and related protests as they occur, the office said. The observers will serve as neutral witnesses, recording information that may inform future legal review, it added.
“As Attorney General, I am proud to protect New Yorkers’ constitutional rights to speak freely, protest peacefully, and go about their lives without fear of unlawful federal action,” James told Newsweek in a statement. “We have seen in Minnesota how quickly and tragically federal operations can escalate in the absence of transparency and accountability. My office is launching the Legal Observation Project to examine federal enforcement activity in New York and whether it remains within the bounds of the law.”
According to the attorney general’s office, the plan will be staffed by trained OAG employees participating on a voluntary basis. When deployed, legal observers will wear easily identifiable purple vests branded with the OAG logo. James’ office said observers would not interfere with enforcement activity and would limit their role to observing and documenting federal conduct in a safe and lawful manner.
In addition to on-site observation, the attorney general’s office is urging members of the public to submit videos or other documentation of federal immigration enforcement actions through a secure online portal. Officials said the submissions would help the office assess activity and determine whether further investigation was warranted.
In January, two U.S. citizens—Renée Good and Alex Pretti, both 37 and residents of Minneapolis—were killed by federal agents during separate operations in the city. An ICE agent shot Good in early January during a traffic encounter on a residential street.
Less than three weeks later, federal agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol shot Pretti amid demonstrations against the federal presence.
The back-to-back shootings sparked vigils, protests and national scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement practices, placing the national spotlight on federal agents’ use of force.
The Trump administration has directed several federal law enforcement agencies to support its mass deportation plans across the United States. In addition to ICE and Customs and Border Protection, personnel from agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been reassigned to assist with immigration enforcement duties.
New York officials monitoring federal enforcement could document the activity of these agencies in addition to ICE and Border Patrol.
New York’s plan to send trained legal observers to monitor federal immigration enforcement reflects a growing effort by state officials across the nation to document and review federal operations. The initiative comes into effect on February 3.
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