May 1, 2023
NEW YORK– Twenty-five unions and worker justice organizations called on Governor Kathy Hochul, Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker Carl Heastie, the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly to pass the New York for All Act, which would broadly prohibit local and state agencies from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) in searching for, arresting and deporting New Yorkers.
“For far too long, [ICE and CBP] have demonized and demoralized immigrant New Yorkers with raids and scare tactics that have cruelly separated families and harmed communities… Employers often exploit immigrant workers’ fear of deportation to discourage them from advocating for themselves against workplace abuses and to suppress organizing efforts, depressing standards for all working people. The New York for All Act offers protections that address this, by prohibiting local and state agencies from funneling people into ICE and CBP custody, sharing sensitive information, and using local resources to undertake a federal political agenda,” they said in the letter.
View the letter and see the list of signatories from across New York state here.