The state Democratic Party will formally condemn ICE at its convention

State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs will introduce a resolution condemning Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Friday’s state nominating convention. While it will be the most comprehensive stance from the state party on immigration enforcement, it still doesn’t go so far as to call for abolishing ICE. 

In a draft shared with City & State, the resolution states that the state Democratic Committee “supports a comprehensive restructuring of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as it currently stands, including the transition from ICE toward a model that safeguards human rights and due process.” The resolution was authored by state Committee Members Julio Peña and John Scott, as well as Assembly candidate Brian Romero, who has stepped away from his committee position since he is running in a different district than the one he had represented. Romero thanked his co-authors for working on the document, but said it ideally would have gone further. “I think any resolution or statement Chair Jacobs brings to (the) Convention that does not call for the abolition of ICE misses the moment,” Romero said in a statement to City & State. “Enough with the political cover. We need leadership.”

Scott, who represents the 34th Assembly District in the state committee, said members couldn’t wait until the annual party meeting in the spring, so he, Peña and Romero moved to have the resolution introduced this week. But he shares Romero’s concern that the resolution he helped write doesn’t quite go far enough. “While the final resolution does not fully encapsulate the growing nationwide demand to abolish ICE, we knew it was important to put forward something with leadership buy-in and make clear that the New York State Democratic Party expects bold action that ensures everyone, no matter what they look like, their immigration status, or if they’re exercising their constitutional right to protest, is treated humanely,” Scott said in a statement.

Asked about the fact the resolution does not explicitly call for the abolition of ICE, Jacobs pointed to the fact that it “clearly calls for a complete overhaul of ICE.” Though a growing number of Democrats have begun using the language of abolition, Gov. Kathy Hochul has so far declined to back the specific prospect when asked directly.

Jacobs, a relatively moderate Democrat, agreed with the draft authors on the urgent need for the committee to take action now, rather than wait several more months. “In these times, no American who values our heritage, our principles and our Constitution can stand silently by while a Federal agency, ICE, tramples on the basic rights of U.S. citizens and those hard working, tax paying individuals who may be in this country without documentation,” he said in a text to City & State. “The outrageous deaths of two citizens on the streets of Minneapolis along with the brutality and inhumanity that we have been witness to requires us to speak loudly and resolutely.”

Over three dozen committee members, including Peña and Scott, signed onto the resolution. It comes after Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed sweeping new immigration protections including banning local law enforcement agreements with ICE and designating houses of worship, hospitals, schools and private homes as “sensitive locations” to limit the access of federal immigration agents. She still has not put her full support behind a legislative proposal that has gained significant backing from lawmakers and advocates called the New York for All Act, but the governor’s new measures cover much of the same ground.

The resolution "commends” Hochul for her proposal to ban local cooperation with ICE through what are known as 287(g) agreements, but it also calls on her to go further and support passage of the New York for All Act. In addition, the resolution calls on members of the U.S. Senate to oppose ICE funding, including in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill, though that legislation has since passed the Senate.