ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Civil Liberties Union warned that an updated immigration proposal from Kathy Hochul would allow local and state police to work more closely with federal immigration authorities if they believe they have probable cause to hold an individual for a possible crime.
In response, Senior Policy Counsel Zach Ahmad of the NYCLU stated, “Governor Hochul’s latest proposal still doesn’t recognize the flashing danger posed by Trump’s mass deportation machines.”
“By giving police officers wide discretion to collude with ICE, the Governor would leave immigrant New Yorkers in danger,” Ahmad added.
“We know how easy it is for law enforcement to claim probable cause to detain someone,” Ahmad said. “Relying on a probable cause standard means the Governor’s proposal will allow police to turn a person who is simply accused of a crime over to ICE — an inept, violent, and lawless agency.”
“That means New York would be condoning and colluding in Trump’s policies of deporting New Yorkers based merely on officer discretion, without any semblance of due process,” Ahmad explained.
Ahmad further warned, “We know that ICE’s documented record of racial profiling and decades of longstanding police bias in this state mean that the Governor’s ‘solution’ will lead to more Black and Brown New Yorkers being disappeared into the unaccountable immigration legal system … [which] won’t make us safer.”
According to reporting by Melissa Hellmann in The Guardian, “the amount of people held in detention reached an all-time high,” with 68,990 people in detention as of Jan. 8, 2026.
Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said, “Anytime you impose a target for a number of arrests and detention, you’re going to encourage the use of unconstitutional shorthands like racial profiling.”
Saenz added, “The main recourse for challenging racial profiling is through the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to sue the federal government for harm caused by federal employees.”
“In September 2025, Supreme Court justices allowed immigration enforcement agents in Southern California to interrogate anyone who they thought may be in the country illegally,” Saenz said, adding that “perceived race or ethnicity can be a relevant factor along with others.”
Lisa Rivera, president and CEO of the New York Legal Assistance Group, said, “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the order that had temporarily protected Angelenos from unconstitutional ICE raids and arrests made without probable cause and in the shadow of due process will only exacerbate the recent lawlessness that we’ve seen federal agents carry out from coast to coast.”
“In New York City, our civil immigration courts have been marred by unprecedented violence,” Rivera added. “Masked federal agents from ICE and other federal agencies have carried out extrajudicial arrests, undermining due process by detaining people as soon as they exit the courtroom after routine asylum hearings.”
Community organizers told The Guardian that “federal agents have targeted the Black and brown neighborhoods that they serve in Minnesota, New York, Washington state, California and Illinois.”
They added that “immigration enforcement agents have patrolled Home Depot stores, mosques, daycares, street vending areas and construction sites.”
“This unjust ruling will only make people less safe, endanger communities of color, and further compound the harm that has been inflicted on immigrant communities since the start of this federal administration,” Rivera said.
Advocates have raised concerns that these enforcement patterns reflect broader systemic issues tied to racial profiling and discretionary policing practices.
Ahmad emphasized, “It’s time to stand up for our rights, our values and our people: pass New York For All, in its entirety, once and for all.”
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“ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Civil Liberties Union warned that an updated immigration proposal from Kathy Hochul would allow local and state police to work more closely with federal immigration authorities if they believe they have probable cause to hold an individual for a possible crime.”
You mean, other than illegally crossing the border and taking up residence in a foreign country (the U.S.) in an attempt to game the system? Along with 11 million or so others who have done the same thing?
Oh, the horror – and thank goodness for the ACLU for trying to put an end to that “madness” (in regard to at least rooting out those who have potentially committed other crimes). (Though they still should remove the “A” from their title.)