New York State prohibits ICE from acting in schools and churches without a warrant

New York.- Governor Kathy Hochul will sign a battery of laws this Friday aimed at protecting the immigrant community and curbing the "flagrant abuse of power" of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the state. The regulations will limit the interventions of these agents in so-called "sensitive places", such as schools, churches, courts, and community centers, unless they have a judicial arrest warrant.

"We will not allow this abuse of power to continue in our streets and communities," Hochul said today at an event with religious leaders, activists from the organization Make the Road NY, and families of immigrants affected by detentions and deportations.

The new New York legislation also establishes a total ban on the use of masks or balaclavas by law enforcement officers in the state. Hochul denounced that ICE agents resort to covering their faces without technical justification, unlike other federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with the sole objective of "intimidating and threatening the population".

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The legal package also ends the 287(g) agreements, which allowed the delegation of immigration functions to local police forces. "I want our police focused on local crimes, not doing ICE's civil work," the governor emphasized. The signing of this law takes place in a context of growing tension between the state of New York and the guidelines of the administration of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, whose immigration policies were described by the governor as "cruel".