D\u2019Agostino\u2019s 51-page preliminary ruling<\/a> let stand a new state prohibition on 287(g) cooperation agreements between local police departments and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The restrictions are shaping up to be a political flashpoint between Democratic state officials and the Trump administration, which challenged both provisions.<\/p>\nIn a joint statement Monday, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James said the ruling allowing the 287(g) ban to remain in effect shows the law “is legal and will keep our communities safe.”<\/p>\n
“Local law enforcement should be focused on local matters, and New York taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for any collaboration with ICE,” their statement said. \u201cWhile the court enjoined enforcement of New York\u2019s mask ban, we stand firm in our belief that masked agents do not make New York safer and our offices are reviewing all legal options at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hochul and her fellow Democrats enacted the new restrictions in May in response to aggressive tactics employed by ICE. Supporters say the law helps hold officers accountable and protects immigrants, but Republicans say it undermines public safety.<\/p>\n
Monday’s preliminary ruling means local police officers can’t arrest ICE agents for covering their faces in public settings. D\u2019Agostino followed other federal courts in California, Virginia and Pennsylvania, which struck down local restrictions on face coverings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United States has demonstrated a likelihood that it will succeed on its claim that the Face Covering and Identification Acts directly regulate federal officers in violation of the Supremacy Clause,\u201d D\u2019Agostino wrote in partially granting the Trump administration\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction.<\/p>\n
D\u2019Agostino said New York\u2019s ban on the cooperation agreements could go forward because the state showed the new law was an \u201cappropriate means of furthering New York’s legitimate interests in protecting public welfare and choosing how state and local resources are expended.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last month, James sent letters to a dozen localities in New York ordering that they cancel their cooperation agreements. Republican leaders in some of those counties have said they won\u2019t comply.<\/p>\n
James Percival, a general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, cheered the ruling.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlue states continue to stack losses as they try to pass unconstitutional bans on ICE officers wearing masks,\u201d Percival said.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Pat Fahy, an Albany Democrat who pushed for the masking restrictions, said the ruling could still be appealed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always knew there was a constitutional debate on this,\u201d she said. \u201c\u200aBut either way, we know that the push from us, along with others, has been effective in sending the message that this was totally outrageous \u2013 the actions of ICE.\u201d<\/p>\n
During oral arguments on July 21, DOJ lawyer Brandon Neuman said both provisions in the new state law are invalid because states can\u2019t make laws that regulate the actions of federal agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key harm here is to the sovereign function of the United States,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Linda Fang of the New York State Attorney General\u2019s office said that there wasn\u2019t a conflicting federal law requiring face masks and the state wasn\u2019t contradicting anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the federal government has not spoken, it can be subject to general rules that impact its function,\u201d Fang said.<\/p>\n
During the hearing, D\u2019Agostino showed pictures of masked agents, stating at the bench that ICE was \u201ca double-secret force I\u2019m not so sure that the founders of the Constitution had in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
But her ruling sided with the DOJ.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York appears to be well-intentioned in its pursuit of transparent policing,\u201d she wrote. \u201cHowever, the issue now before the Court is about constitutionality\u2014not transparency or preferable policy decisions. There is a constitutional proscription on direct state regulation of federal agency operations. Whether federal law enforcement agencies have chosen to carry out such operations in a sufficiently transparent manner is an important question. But that question is not for this Court to answer at the present time.\u201d<\/p>\n
This story has been updated with additional information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s effort to make immigration agents show their faces was put on hold by a Monday federal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-312988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}