Hochul’s immigration bill is timed just to Trump. Should it go further?

Advocates for expanding immigration protections are calling on Gov. Kathy Hochul to go beyond her proposal to ban agreements between local enforcement and federal immigration officials, which would sunset in three years – after the end of President Donald Trump’s term. She told City & State she is open to negotiating all aspects of the proposal. But the governor still found herself at odds with activists and lawmakers on whether abuses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement are unique to Trump.

Speaking at a Friday Caucus Weekend panel on New York for All, Assembly Member Karines Reyes – the sponsor of the expansive immigrant protection bill – called Hochul’s proposal “a good first step,” but that she needs to go further. The governor’s program bill would outlaw so-called 287(g) agreements with ICE, a major component of New York for All, but does not include all aspects of the proposal from lawmakers to end all forms of collaboration between ICE and local governments.

Reyes also took issue with the way Hochul’s proposal was seemingly timed to just apply to the Trump administration. The language presented by the governor stated that the law would be repealed on July 1, 2029. “We know that ICE has been a rogue agency that has been terrorizing our communities even before Trump was in office,” Reyes said. “We want to make sure that those protections are permanent for New Yorkers.” She called Hochul’s automatic repeal provision “very troubling.”

Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition concurred with Reyes. “It didn't start with Donald Trump and his administration,” he said at the Friday panel. “It's been happening for decades at this point, but we are seeing the true face of this agency continue to do the horrors that they are doing.

Hochul told City & State that she is “open to having conversations about every element” of her proposal when asked whether she would consider removing the sunset provision. She said the decision was meant to assure those who may be “resistant” of the measure that it is meant to be temporary. According to Hochul, the problems with ICE currently are unique to Trump. “The way deportations are being handled under Trump is what we are rejecting,” she told City & State. “Yes, it is not done lawfully, it is not done the way it had been done in the past. And so yes, there is an argument to say that this is specific to this era.” 

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who has said she is committed to the “goals” of New York for All, told City & State that her conference wants protections “in perpetuity,” even as she would not comment on any specific aspect from Hochul’s proposal under negotiation. “We're not looking for anything that limits the amount of protection that we want to provide,” she said. “But again, we're working through it and we are all interested in making sure that we get to the right place with all of these different issues.” Stewart-Cousins suggested that New Yorkers will get a “full understanding” on where things are landing in one or two weeks.