City Bar Urges Passage of State Immigration Protections

New York for All Act Would Help Protect New Yorkers
from Federal Immigration Enforcement Abuses

The New York City Bar Association has released a report in strong support of the New York for All Act (A.3506-B / S.2235-B), urging the State Legislature to prioritize passage of the most comprehensive legislation currently available to protect New Yorkers from federal immigration enforcement abuses.

The New York for All Act

The New York for All Act would prohibit federal immigration agents from entering non-public areas of properties controlled by state and local governments — including schools and DMV offices — without a judicial warrant, and would limit the use of state resources for immigration enforcement, including the collection and sharing of information that could be relevant for immigration enforcement.

The Act would bar state and local agencies, law enforcement officers, and probation departments from using state agencies’ resources for federal immigration enforcement, including conducting immigration investigations, transferring individuals to ICE custody, or entering into formal or informal collaborative arrangements with federal immigration authorities. It would prohibit state and local police and correctional departments from entering into any agreements with federal immigration authorities for the purpose of immigration enforcement.

Among other provisions, the Act would also require that individuals in law enforcement custody be informed of their rights before being interviewed by immigration agents, mandate notification to inmates when immigration authorities are given facility access for interviews, and establish public accountability through annual reporting and a complaint mechanism administered by the state attorney general.

Governor’s Bills Offer Partial but Insufficient Protections

The City Bar also expressed support for two bills proposed by Governor Hochul — the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act and the Sensitive Locations Protection Act — as acceptable, but not as comprehensive, alternatives.

The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act would end existing 287(g) agreements — which currently deputize local law enforcement to carry out federal immigration enforcement in fourteen counties across New York State — and ban new agreements through July 1, 2029.

The Sensitive Locations Protection Act would require judicial warrants for immigration agents seeking access to non-public areas of government-controlled sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, and houses of worship. It would also permit private owners of such locations to adopt similar policies.

Why These Protections Are Urgently Needed

The City Bar’s report documents the serious harms caused by collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement, including a chilling effect on crime reporting, greater risk of racial profiling, and financial costs imposed on local governments. The report also highlights the humanitarian crisis unfolding in federal immigration detention, where approximately 68,000 people were held as of December 2025 — nearly 75 percent with no criminal convictions — and where detainees have reported severe mistreatment. People who are in the country legally and even U.S. citizens are among those who have been captured in the dragnet. “From detention centers in Batavia, New York, to 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan, detainees have reported inhumane living conditions, severe lack of medical treatment, and officers beating detainees or placing them in solitary confinement for durations that meet New York State’s definition of torture,” the report states. In 2025, 32 people died in ICE custody across the country, making it the agency’s deadliest year in more than two decades.

The City Bar believes that all three bills represent valid exercises of New York’s police power under the Tenth Amendment and are not preempted by federal law. Courts have already upheld similar executive restrictions on the use of state facilities for civil immigration arrests.

City Bar’s Position

The New York City Bar Association supports all three bills, but believes the Legislature and Governor should prioritize enactment of the New York for All Act because it offers the most comprehensive protections. If it does not pass, the City Bar urges the enactment of the Local Cops, Local Crimes, and Sensitive Locations Protection Acts.

“By abusing its enforcement powers and creating a reign of terror in our nation, the federal government has forfeited any claim to assistance by the State of New York in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. The federal government must drastically reform its policies to regain the trust that it has lost,” states the report.

The report is available on the City Bar’s website here.

About the Association
The mission of the New York City Bar Association, which was founded in 1870 and has over 20,000 members, is to equip and mobilize a diverse legal profession to practice with excellence, promote reform of the law, and uphold the rule of law and access to justice in support of a fair society and the public interest in our community, our nation, and throughout the world. www.nycbar.org