SYRACUSE – New York Democrats signed onto a measure denouncing ICE and supporting legislation to make New York a sanctuary state as they hope fury against the agency will be a winning electoral issue come November’s midterm election.
In a unanimous vote at the state convention in Syracuse Friday, the state Democratic party backed a symbolic resolution supporting the New York for All Act – a sweeping measure that would prohibit local governments from cooperating with ICE.
“ICE has become an agency that operates with violence, impunity and total disregard for human and civilian life,” the resolution reads, in part.
“This legislation would prohibit state and local resources from being used to aid most non-criminal federal immigration and ensure New York is not complicit in ICE’s violence,” it added of the New York for All legislation.
A Siena University poll released this week showed a whopping 61% of New York voters disagree with ICE’s tactics, including the same number in suburban counties.
The vote of party bigwigs, including both Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and state Sen. Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester), shows Democrats ready to take on immigration as a campaign issue.
Assemblyman Brian Cunningham (D-Brooklyn), who seconded Hochul’s formal nomination, bashed Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Hochul’s likely GOP foe, for working with ICE.
“He’s someone who thinks ICE is doing a great job,” Cunningham said. “We had a unanimous vote amongst Democrats today to say that man is not doing a great job.”
Hochul has shifted significantly on putting restrictions on ICE since the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during the federal immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis.
She announced, but has yet to release specifics on a plan she wants to push through the state legislature that would stop local governments from signing formal agreements with ICE.
“Since we began our cooperation with ICE, over 2000 criminals have been removed from Nassau County and the metropolitan area. Criminals who otherwise would have been set free by Kathy Hochul’s cashless bail debacle,” Blakeman told The Post.
Read the full article here
