After months of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) militarized, brutal, and cruel deportation operations across the country, the Trump administration has seemingly changed its tune on immigration policy, at least for now.
Over the past few weeks, you may have noticed a dramatic shift in ICE’s media attention after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was forced to temporarily shut down due to a lapse in funding from Congress. Ongoing negotiations in the Senate have remained at a standstill for over a month after four separate funding measures each failed to pass.
But with DHS funding in limbo, it has been clearer than ever that states like New York must prepare and act swiftly to prevent a repeat of ‘Operation Metro Surge,’ , in which ICE agents killed two American citizens — Alex Pretti and Renée Nicole Good — and terrorized hundreds of families in the Twin Cities. ICE’s actions in Minnesota should serve as a warning sign that it could be replicated anywhere, especially in New York, which is home to a diverse community of immigrants and backgrounds and stands as a beacon as a sanctuary state.
ICE is ramping up its presence in the state of New York, which raises serious implications for the future of potential, and almost inevitable ICE raids across New York. But beyond ICE’s expansion plans, it has demonstrated that it will still do everything it can to deport as many people as possible, regardless of when and where in the country they may be. In New York, there have been several instances where ICE has engaged in outrageous deportation raids, including the arrest of Ellie Aghayeva, a Columbia University undergraduate student, who was snatched from her university-owned apartment building after ICE agents engaged in deceitful mechanisms to obtain access to the building.
Thankfully, Ms. Aghayeva was released at the request of Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his private White House meeting with President Trump. But unlike Ms. Aghayeva, thousands of other New Yorkers are still either in ICE custody or have already been deported from the country, despite an overwhelming 70 percent% of detainees not having a criminal conviction or charge on their records. WhatBut what can the state do to curb immigration arrests and deportations?
Amidst New York’s ongoing budget negotiations, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a ban on ICE collaboration contracts, also known as 287(g) agreements, with New York localities. While the proposal may seem commendable at first glance, it falls short of actually protecting New Yorkers from being in the crosshairs of ICE raids.
Governor Hochul’s proposal would prevent local governments from renting jail space to ICE and DHS until mid-2029, and prohibit localities from entering or maintaining 287(g) contracts, which task local officers with identifying, investigating, and even arresting people on behalf of ICE. So far, 14 local law enforcement departments in the state have such agreements in place. But according to a New York Focus analysis of Hochul’s proposal, the proposed law “would not prohibit the many informal means by which local agencies work with federal immigration authorities […] like sharing intelligence or calling them when they arrest immigrants.”
At a time when the Trump administration is doing everything in its power to aid ICE operations across the country, including encouraging agents to forcefully enter homes and arrest people without judicial warrants, states directly opposing Trump’s agenda must not settle for incrementalist reforms to counter his deeply unpopular executive actions. That is why we must pass the New York For All Act in this year’s legislative session in Albany.
New York State Senator Andrew Gounardes and Assemblymember Karines Reyes, alongside a broad coalition of civic, community, and advocacy groups, reintroduced the New York For All Act earlier this year to finally bridge the gap and protect all New Yorkers. The bill would end 287(g) contracts and other informal collusion by ensuring that local agencies are not deputized or aiding and abetting the efforts of federal immigration agents. By extension, the bill would also affirm and protect the constitutional rights of immigrants by ensuring they are able to exercise their due process rights, which are fundamental and guaranteed by the U.S. constitution, regardless of one’s immigration status. Most importantly, the New York for All Act will finally impose a ban on state and local agencies from providing sensitive, personal, and identifying information to ICE agents, a measure that would hinder deportation operations in the state.
The New York For All Act would finally put an end to the immoral and unjust practices of deliberately selling out our communities by aiding the federal government’s efforts to divide, terrorize, and rip families apart. New York must be a state where we uphold the rights of all people, regardless of their immigration status. As New Yorkers, we must end the era of acquiescing to the abhorrent demands of the Trump administration because, as we saw in Minnesota, no one is truly safe from ICE’s cruel and blatant disregard for human dignity.
The Zeitgeist aims to publish ideas worth discussing. The views presented are solely those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board.
