![\"Congressman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765378152_333_DSC_5480-copy.jpg\" "\\"Editorial")
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Congressman Dan Goldman, Adriano Espaillat, and Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez revealed Monday that they are pushing new legislation that would stop ICE agents from\u00a0stalking the halls of immigration and arresting immigrants as they attend their legally mandated court hearings.<\/p>\n
Photo by Dean Moses<\/p>\n
ICE agents have operated in New York with impunity for months now<\/a>, and the best response many of our elected officials seem to offer is talk about what they want to do, rather than what they are doing, to protect New Yorkers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Take, for instance, US Reps. Dan Goldman, Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez and Adriano Espaillat, who on Monday announced their introduction of a bill to prevent ICE agents from arresting immigrants in federal court.<\/a><\/p>\n The three Congress members have been vocal in their opposition to masked ICE<\/a> agents manhandling and arresting law-abiding immigrants appearing at court-ordered hearings at 26 Federal Plaza; they have also been repeatedly turned away by federal agents when they sought to inspect areas where immigrants were being detained.<\/p>\n And while their activism is appreciated, the bill itself misses the mark because it currently has zero chance of becoming federal law. President Trump will never sign it; the House and Senate are controlled by Trump\u2019s Republican Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n Goldman told amNewYork that he\u2019s cognizant of the political realities in Washington, but that the bill offers Republicans an opportunity \u201cto do something\u201d before next year\u2019s election. The problem is that House and Senate Republicans have made clear they are not going \u201cto do something\u201d that opposes the president\u2019s immigration policies, regardless of the repercussions.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in contrast to advocating a bill that will never pass the current Congress, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law state legislation Tuesday aimed at protecting immigrants in the state from \u201cunjust\u201d federal immigration enforcement actions.<\/a><\/p>\n The legislation bans arrests at courthouses, requires public schools, hospitals and other entities to protect the immigration status information of those in their care, and permits civil lawsuits against any law enforcement officers who violate state and\/or U.S. constitutional rights.<\/p>\n New York\u2019s sanctuary city laws already protect immigration status information, but the rest of the new Illinois legislation signed by Pritzker Tuesday ought to provide a road map for New York state and city to push back against ICE. The legislation offers real, concrete measures that can easily pass the state Legislature and be signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n