By Ashley Hupfl The Daily Gazette, Schenectady
Republican state lawmakers gathered at the state Capitol on Tuesday to announce the introduction of legislation that would require New York State cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid the migrant crisis.
The bill would require state and local law enforcement, and certain courts, to notify the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of the arrest or conviction of non-citizens, reinstate the 365-day maximum sentence for a class A misdemeanor and repeal the “Protect Our Courts Act” passed in 2020. The law banned warrantless civil arrests for individuals going to, attending or returning from court proceedings, a tactic used by ICE.
The legislation is sponsored by Assemblyman Jarett Gandolfo and state Sen. Andrew Lanza, and is likely dead on arrival given Democrats control both houses.
“What we want to talk about is giving our local law enforcement the tools to do the job that they — by the way — were sworn to do, serve and protect,” State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt said. “This is federal law, federal immigration and law enforcement working together to protect workers, to protect each other. And that’s not happening.”
The press conference followed a highly publicized attack last month that allegedly shows a group of asylum seekers beating a NYPD officer. Following the Republicans’ press conference on Tuesday, news broke that one of the migrants arrested in the attack was once again arrested in connection to an alleged robbery. Gov. Kathy Hochul has previously publicly called for the deportation of those involved in the attack and criticized the decision to release the alleged attackers after they were processed.
Assemblyman Chris Tague, R-Schoharie, criticized the governor’s Executive Budget, which includes $2.4 billion to help New York City manage the crisis.
“That, to me, is a problem. And I think the governor, and many of my colleagues on the other side of…
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