In this moment when cruelty seems to be the point of the federal administration’s immigration policy, a common question is: what power do states have to fight back?
Well, I found this example, from my home state of New York, to be a smart strategy that shows some ways states can use their own legal authority to push back against federal actions. At the bitter end of this year’s budget season in New York, the governor and legislature passed a package of laws which that, among other things, would:
- Ban federal immigration agents from hiding their faces behind masks
- Prohibit local and state agencies (is that right?) from entering into “287g agreements” with federal agencies that would involve local agents in the work of federal immigration enforcement.
- Restrict the use of state and local resources for civil immigration enforcement.
- Limit sharing certain sensitive information with federal immigration authorities.
- Implement new protections for students and families in schools.
- Establish an Office of Immigrant Trust in the attorney general’s office charged with investigating any potential unlawful collusion by state or local agencies with federal immigration enforcement.
Last month, New York Attorney General (AG) Leticia James followed the law by setting up the new office and notifying twelve law enforcement agencies of their legal responsibility to end 287(g) agreements by August 25th. [1]
Advocates pushed hard to get the legislature and governor to act on these rules, and while they did not get everything they were asking for, this is real progress that other states can also take on. I am excited to see New York take these steps and I hope that other states can use this example as a tool to fight back against the immigration policies from the current administration.
You can read the full press release here for more information:
[1] What is 287(g), Immigrant Legal Resource Center, https://www.ilrc.org/practitioners/national-map-287g-agreements