Local Police Agreements With ICE Have Exploded in New York—and Nationwide

Over the last eight months in New York State alone local law enforcement agencies have signed nine partnership agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE under the federal g plan encompassing six counties The number of such agreements has exploded nationwide this year with a total of covering states U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE officers during a series of targeted enforcement operations in Flickr ICE One of the main strategies President Donald Trump has pursued to carry out his mass deportation plan in his second term is to flood the zone with a slew of initiative changes executive actions and a growing number of immigration enforcement agents New Yorkers have seen all of these from courthouse arrests to policies restricting immigrant households access to benefits and programs Now new g agreements in which local law enforcement agencies volunteer to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE must be added to this strategy function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' Over the last eight months as of Sept nine such Memorandums of Agreement have been signed in New York State alone encompassing six counties As a impact thousands of New York immigrants have been detained by ICE Named after a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act this agreement allows state and local law enforcement agencies to perform the duties of immigration officers under three specific models of g agreements each with unique functions and powers The Warrant Utility Officer Model dubbed g -lite allows officers to execute ICE administrative warrants on individuals in the agency s jails The Jail Enforcement Model enables officers to screen individuals in state and local custody for immigration violations and place them into immigration proceedings The Task Force Model enables officers to conduct immigration arrests while performing their regular police duties This level of cooperation ICE maintains enhances the safety and safety of our nation s communities though advocates say the arrangements erode trust between communities and local governments City Limits reached out to all local law enforcement agencies involved in such deals requesting figures on arrests and detentions under g but majority did not provide specific material The number of such agreements has exploded nationwide this year with a total of covering states according to ICE Tied for th place New York has the same number of agreements as states such as Indiana and Wyoming ICE could reach agreements in the coming months if the trend continues as there are pending g undertaking applications as of Sept according to the agency All of New York s current agreements are in counties outside the five boroughs as New York City has a number of sanctuary city policies in place that limit how governing body agencies can interact with immigration enforcement Earlier this year after meeting with Trump s Boundary Czar Tom Homan Mayor Eric Adams tried to once again authorize the presence of ICE federal agents on Rikers Island to investigate criminal activity issuing an executive order in April signed by First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro ICE agents had previously been kicked out of the city jail complex through an executive order a decade ago Days later the City Council challenged Adams executive order in court citing illegality violations of local sanctuary laws and saying allowing ICE at Rikers would erode trust between communities and city leadership The Council considered the mayor s action an attempt to appease the Trump administration after the president dropped a federal corruption examination into the mayor On June State Supreme Court Justice Mary Rosado sided with the Council barring ICE from reopening an office on Rikers Island indefinitely City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams at a rally in April to oppose the return of ICE agents to Rikers Island John McCarten NYC Council Media Unit ICE expansion in New York State The situation outside city limits however is different For years the Rensselaer County Sheriff s Office was the only office in New York with a signed agreement with ICE But that s changed this year Back in February the Nassau County Sheriff s Office became the first law enforcement agency to sign a new agreement with ICE introducing a Warrant System Officer activity According to local advocates the activity has sparked protests and raised concerns about society member safety We re seeing a lot of ICE raids happening in Westbury declared Luba Cort s civil rights and immigration lead organizer of Make the Road New York referencing a June happening where a group of ICE agents were spotted outside a local school That sends the wrong tone to neighborhood members right like why is there massive enforcement right in front of an elementary school Cort s added So the optics of this are really concerning There have been protests outside of the office of the county executive Bruce Blakeman a long-shot candidate for governor and a Trump ally In July a Newsday probe exposed that over immigrants had been held and local jail cells set aside for ICE as part of a Warrant Operation Officer agreement signed by the county sheriff one of the arrangements available under g that allows local police to transfer detainees to ICE custody In March the Nassau County Police Department NCPD signed the largest part aggressive type of g agreement the Task Force Model which expands local police s powers to participate in federal immigration enforcement sessions while performing routine police duties According to ICE this involves training local law enforcement officers in immigration law multicultural communication and how to avoid racial profiling A spokesperson from the NCPD commented agreement-trained Nassau County detectives are available to work with ICE though no arrests have been made under the arrangement so far The spokesperson declared those detectives received online training through ICE but didn t specify what it entailed In June the New York Civil Liberties Union NYCLU Latino Justice PRLDEF and the Hofstra Law Clinic sued Nassau County marking the first lawsuit against a g agreement in New York State The defendants are representing two Long Island residents as well as three local nonprofits that work with immigrant communities the Diocese of Long Island Central American Refugee Center CARECEN and HAFALI Jessica Greenberg CARECEN s legal director announced the region is particularly fearful leading to reduced trust in law enforcement and reluctance to call for help when something goes wrong There s been an increase in individuals who are too scared to call the police who are in domestic violence situations People are too scared to even call an ambulance Greenberg explained An NCPD spokesperson however reported the department has not seen a change in calls and that local police continue to have positive interactions with our residents in all of our communities But the Nassau County Office of Hispanic Affairs a county administration department that connects the Hispanic neighborhood with county information admits there has been pushback Certain residents express concern and fear particularly among immigrant families citing past experiences or perceptions of profiling Others see it as a necessary step toward enhancing masses safety reported Herb Flores executive director of the office No one should hesitate to seek help especially if they are casualties of a crime The safety and well-being of every resident is our priority regardless of immigration status Flores added assuring that officers won t ask about someone s immigration status particularly if they are casualties of a crime or in an emergency Out of the agreements with ICE in the state four are Task Force programs and five are Warrant Institution Officer programs Only one of these the oldest one signed in with the Rensselaer County Sheriff s Office is a Jail Enforcement Model which allows officers to interrogate settlers in jail In Camden an Oneida County village in central New York the Police Department joined ICE s Task Force Model operation in July just a week after ICE arrested the owner of a longtime Chinese-American restaurant Camden Chief of Police Sean Redden commented via email that this venture is relatively new to me and I do not know enough about it to comment The Broome County Sheriff s Office the Madison County Sheriff s Office the Niagara County Sheriff s Office and the Steuben County Sheriff s Office which signed the the majority new agreement did not respond to City Limits requests for comment In April the Broome County Sheriff s office commented refugees had been held in jail since February Advocates in the area located in the state Southern Tier region commented the number had climbed to about immigrants by July Andrew Pragacz president of Justice and Unity in the Southern Tier JUST revealed his organization s members have been visiting the jail for almost a decade This year he noticed more people starting to arrive I was able to go visit one guy who is now deported to Guatemala Pragacz reported adding that he was trying to see what conditions settlers were being held in but a multitude of were speedily moved to other facilities A rally against ICE activity in New York City John McCarten NYC Council Local advocates in these counties are reigniting the call for a statewide ban on cabinet cooperation with ICE For several years state lawmakers have introduced versions of the New York For All a bill that would limit state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws but it has yet to pass Neighboring states such as New Jersey Connecticut and Delaware are among the sparse with no advancing ICE agreements selected after similar statewide bans Earlier this year ICE s arrests raids and disruptions in immigrant communities across the state seemed to have built enough momentum for the legislature to pass New York for All by the end of session in June The bill even got the help of nine New York Congress members but it didn t pass We really just want people to focus on New York for All as a campaign that would protect our state and end these g agreements Cort s noted Tom Homan has made it very clear that New York is going to be a target and it s up to the state to step in and protect individuals To reach the reporter behind this story contact Daniel citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint guidelines here The post Local Police Agreements With ICE Have Exploded in New York and Nationwide appeared first on City Limits