April 16, 2026
The following is a statement from Immigrant Defense Executive Director Yasmine Farhang on news that Governor Hochul’s is proposing enabling law enforcement to use probable cause as a criteria for turning immigrant New Yorkers over to ICE.
“Let’s be clear: the Governor’s proposal not only flies in the face of due process and the presumption of innocence that all New Yorkers have a fundamental right to – it puts ALL New Yorkers’ safety at risk by blatantly incentivizing mass racial profiling and creates a formal scheme for wide-spread collusion to occur with authorization of the state. In practice, “probable cause” is little more than an arbitrary whim at the initial point someone is arrested. So the Governor’s proposal for legislation to allow law enforcement to use this arbitrary standard would essentially condone and incentivize any collusion between local law enforcement and ICE where they are able to articulate any pretextual reason for pursuing a criminal charge at all.
“ICE and CBP are increasingly relying on local and state law enforcement and government agencies to search for, arrest, and deport New Yorkers, multiplying the injustice of discriminatory and aggressive policing to surveil, racially profile, and separate families across New York State. This proposal would incentivize and exacerbate racial profiling in arrests and likely increase unlawful arrests.
“This proposal is not “the floor,” it is a disastrous step in the wrong direction. It creates a scheme of entanglement with ICE that undercuts basic due process and leaves New York far, far behind any other comparable state. We are calling on the Governor to make a real commitment to protect New Yorkers and pass New York for All.”
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