(The Center Square) — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state is willing to cooperate with the Trump administration’s efforts to deport undocumented migrants suspected of entering the country illegally — but only under certain circumstances.
The Hochul administration released a list on Tuesday outlining the types of deportation cases in which state law enforcement may be willing to cooperate with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials. This list includes situations where a person is suspected of crossing the border without stopping at an official port of entry or reentering the country after being deported.
The new policy, first reported by Gothamist, will allow New York officials to coordinate with ICE when a person’s immigration status is “relevant to the investigation of a crime” committed in the state or if that person is suspected of a “multinational” criminal activity, such as working for a drug cartel.
“We believe that the immigration system is broken,” Hochul told reporters during a Tuesday briefing. “We do not have open borders here. That was never the intent. But I also know the great state of New York will not stand for children to be in fear in schools, or people in churches cowering in basements out of fear.”
Hochul had pledged to release an updated immigration policy for the state following November’s presidential election and has previously expressed a willingness to deport immigrants accused of crimes.
“Someone breaks the law, I’ll be the first one to call up ICE and say, ‘Get them out of here,'” Hochul said in remarks in November. “When those are identified, I’ll be the first one to help get rid of them,” she added. “I don’t want them here. I don’t want anybody terrorizing my citizens.”
Hochul’s immigration policy mirrors a directive from her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, who signed an executive order in 2017 — just months after Trump took office for his first term — outlining rules for New York agencies and law enforcement officials regarding immigration crackdowns.
“Law enforcement officers may not use resources, equipment, or personnel for the purpose of detecting or apprehending any individual suspected or wanted only for violating a civil immigration offense,” the directive reads. “Law enforcement officers have no authority to take any police action solely because the person is an undocumented alien.”
The release of the state immigration policy came on the same day the Trump administration’s newly installed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited New York City for a ride-along with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who were conducting targeted immigration raids across the city.
ICE has reported more than 3,500 arrests nationwide since Mr. Trump took office and a total of 1,179 in a single day on Monday, according to an online tally by the federal agency.
Mayor Eric Adams of New York, a Democrat, has also said he wants to collaborate with Trump to deport criminals as his city continues to grapple with the $1 billion per-year cost of caring for tens of thousands of asylum seekers.
A recent Siena College poll found a majority of New Yorkers want the state to support Trump’s efforts to deport migrants.