NY Assemblyman Cahill says restricting ICE will stop courts from being ‘traps’

Cahill is sponsoring the bill with Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson, D-Newburgh, and the immigrants rights group Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson is urging local governments to pass resolutions supporting the act.

“This act will mean that every immigrant New Yorker can go to the courts without the same fear of being taken by ICE,” said Ignacio Alfredo, a lead organizer for Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson. “And we need our local governments to step up and support.”

The Poughkeepsie Common Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of the Protect Our Courts Act on Monday. The state legislation “would make it unlawful for ICE to make a civil arrest while a person is going to, attending or leaving court unless the officer presents a valid judicial warrant or court order,” Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson said in a press release. “The act also empowers the New York attorney general to pursue legal action on behalf of individuals arrested in violation of this law, and recognizes individuals have a right to pursue civil legal claims when they are arrested.