Mayor Eric Adams says he wants to use executive orders to loosen so-called “sanctuary city” protections for immigrants at risk for deportation.
But what exactly are sanctuary protections and what changes does Adams have in mind, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his promised “mass deportation” plan?
Here’s what to know about such measures and what changes could be in store.
What are sanctuary protections?
There’s no official definition of what constitutes a sanctuary law or sanctuary jurisdiction. Generally, however, such policies limit the extent to which a local or state government will cooperate and share information with federal immigration enforcement officers.
A common type of sanctuary policy limits or prohibits local officials from honoring “immigration detainers,” which are essentially requests by the federal government to hold someone in criminal custody so that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement can intervene, detain and potentially deport the person being held.
The Center for Immigration Studies has identified over 170 cities, counties, and states that have adopted sanctuary policies.
What sanctuary protections exist under New York City law?
New York City, which is estimated to be home to more than 412,000 noncitizens without legal status as of 2022, has some of the country’s strongest sanctuary laws, according to a Poynter Institute review.
The city’s first sanctuary policies extend back to Mayor Ed Koch, who in 1989 signed an executive order that limited the circumstances under which city employees could share information with federal immigration authorities. Mayors David Dinkins and Rudy Giuliani later reissued the order.
One of the stated goals of the orders was to improve public safety — namely, to ensure immigrants without legal status would cooperate with police to report and investigate crimes.
The City Council passed the first sanctuary law in 2011, which was later strengthened by a handful of reforms over the tenure of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who served from 2014 to 2021, overlapping with Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021.
Under the laws, city jails and police are largely barred from honoring ICE detainer requests. Exceptions are only made when ICE provides a warrant, and only for individuals convicted of one of about 170 violent or serious crimes or whose names appear on a federal terrorist watch list. A 2014 law also removed an ICE office from Rikers Island.
A 2017 law prohibits the use of city staff and resources for immigration enforcement. Another local law from the same year largely prohibits immigration officers from entering city property normally off-limits to the general public, like shelters, without a warrant.
Does New York state have any of its own sanctuary protections?
The state Protect Our Courts Act passed in 2020 bars ICE agents from arresting people inside local and state courthouses. The Green Light Law passed in 2019 prevents the state Department of Motor Vehicles from giving records to immigration authorities unless provided with a court order or judicial warrant.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has also kept in place an executive order that bars state employees, including law enforcement officers, from disclosing information to help with immigration enforcement unless they are legally required to do so.
Since 2020, immigration advocates have been urging the state Legislature to pass the New York for All Act, which would largely limit police departments across the state from working with ICE and prohibit public resources from being used for immigration enforcement. Over the past few legislative sessions, the bill has died without receiving a hearing.
How does Adams want to change the city’s sanctuary laws?
Adams has repeatedly said over the last several months that he thinks the changes to the city’s sanctuary laws under former Mayor de Blasio’s administration went too far. But his exact critique remains unclear.
After a meeting earlier this month with Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan, Adams said in a press conference that he doesn’t want a “safe haven for those who commit repeated violent crimes.” He added, “we have the same desire to go after those who are committing repeated violent acts.”
Adams has also suggested that police should be allowed to cooperate with ICE to help deport unauthorized immigrants accused of crimes, rather than just those who have been convicted. He’s also discussed expanding the list of criminal convictions that would trigger police cooperation with ICE.
Hochul has also voiced support for going after noncitizens who have committed crimes.
“Someone breaks the law, I’ll be the first one to call up ICE and say, ‘Get them out of here,’” she said in November.
How else could sanctuary laws change under Trump’s presidency?
Trump’s advisers are discussing how to strip federal funds from cities that refuse to participate in his mass deportation plans, according to a Washington Post report.
During his first presidency, Trump put in place a policy banning hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. Department of Justice funds from going to sanctuary cities. He is expected to go further during his second term. Trump has said he’ll call on Congress to pass a law to “outlaw” sanctuary cities.
Given the existing sanctuary protections, just how busy have ICE enforcement officers been in New York City?
In the federal fiscal year that concluded at the end of September 2023, ICE’s enforcement and removal operations officers arrested 9,229 people in New York City, according to the agency’s data. The vast majority of those individuals lacked criminal convictions.
Officers primarily make administrative arrests of noncitizens believed to be in this country in violation of immigration law; the officers also have the authority to execute criminal arrest warrants and initiate prosecutions for criminal activity, including immigration-related crimes.
All told, ICE deported 458 people from New York City during fiscal year 2023, and 39% of them had criminal convictions. Historically, the most common convictions, according to the ICE data, were DUI, drug possession, assault, and criminal (non-civil) traffic offenses such as hit-and-runs or leaving the scene of an accident.
However, these protections are now at an inflection point as the Trump administration continues to push for stricter immigration enforcement and threatens to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities. In response, Mayor Bill de Blasio has reaffirmed New York City’s commitment to protecting its immigrant population, but the future of these policies remains uncertain.
As the debate over immigration rages on at the national level, it is crucial for New York City to stand firm in its support for immigrants and continue to uphold its sanctuary city status. The city’s diversity and strength are built on the contributions of immigrants, and it is essential that they feel safe and welcome in their communities.
It is up to all New Yorkers to stand up for the rights of immigrants and push back against the federal government’s attempts to undermine sanctuary city protections. Now more than ever, we must come together to defend our city’s values of inclusivity and diversity.
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