Migrant-friendly laws that limit local law enforcement’s ability to cooperate with the feds on immigration matters would be repealed under new legislation to be considered by the NYC Council.
Council members Robert Holden (D-Queens) and Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) told The Post they’ll be introducing a bill Thursday that would repeal the so-called “sanctuary city” laws approved from 2014 to 2018 under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Some of the laws prohibit the NYPD, Department of Correction and Department of Probation from cooperating with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency unless the cases involve suspected terrorists or other serious public safety risks.
The bill — which is likely to face strident objections from the Council’s left wing Democratic majority — also reverses de Blasio-era rules prohibiting city agencies from partnering with ICE to enforce federal immigration laws, including using staff and other city resources.
“Sanctuary city laws put all New Yorkers, both immigrants and longtime residents, in danger by preventing the NYPD and DOC from working with ICE,” said Holden, a moderate Dem.
“We do not need to import criminals, and only 23 years since 9/11, we have forgotten the deadly consequences of poor interagency communication. We must repeal these laws immediately to protect our communities.”
Murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley might still be alive if it wasn’t for the sanctuary city policies, Holden and other critics have said. The 22-year-old was found dead Feb. 22 on the University of Georgia’s campus, six months after her alleged killer Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, was arrested in Queens and charged with endangering a child.
The NYPD had no choice but to cut the Venezuelan-born Ibarra loose — instead of turning him over to federal immigration officials — because he didn’t have any major crime convictions.
In November 2014, de Blasio signed into law two City Council bills backed by then-Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, barring the NYPD and DOC from cooperating with federal detainer requests.
Under the changes, city agencies could no longer hand undocumented migrants over to ICE for future deportation unless the person was convicted of a “violent of serious felony” within the prior five years or was a possible match on terrorist watch lists – and only after ICE secured a judicial warrant.
In October 2017, the Council passed legislation beefing up these rules further, prohibiting the Department of Probation from honoring most detainer requests and outlawing all city resources from being used to enforce federal immigration laws. Three months later, de Blasio added new NYPD protocols mandating “senior” agency officials must review all ICE assistance requests to help ensure the city’s sanctuary city laws are being followed.
“Like most things in New York, sanctuary city policy is a social experiment gone off the rails,” said Borelli. “All the problems with these local laws came out during the public-hearing process, but the Council just stepped harder on the gas pedal.”
In February, Mayor Eric Adams called for the rules to be loosened so migrants “suspected” of “serious” crimes could also be turned over to ICE — as they once were under sanctuary city policies implemented as early as 1989 under ex-mayors Ed Koch and Michael Bloomberg.
But Council Speaker Adrienne Adams shot down the idea a day later, saying she and the rest of the Council’s progressive Democratic majority wouldn’t be considering any rule changes.
Mayor Adams plans to review the legislation, said his spokesperson Kayla Mamelak.
The Council Speaker’s Office declined comment.
