Amd §1.20, add Art 145 §§145.05 - 145.60, CP L; add §§256-b & 63-e, Art 15-AA §§319 & 319-a, Exec L; add Art
19-D §996, Gen Muni L; amd §§500-c & 621, rpld §§147 & 500-f, Cor L; amd §17, Pub Off L; add Art 25 §§1300 -
1302, Ed L
Prohibits and regulates the discovery and disclosure of immigration status; prohibits police officers, peace officers, school resource officers, probation agencies, state entities, state employees, and municipal corporations from questioning individuals regarding their citizenship or immigration status; regulates the disclosure of information relating to immigration status; prohibits an educational agency, higher education agency, school employee, school safety personnel, or third-party contractor from collecting information about a person's citizenship, immigration status, nationality, or country of origin, unless required by law or necessary to administer a public program or benefit sought by such person.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3506B
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the criminal procedure law, the executive law, the
general municipal law, the education law, the correction law and the
public officers law, in relation to prohibiting and regulating the
discovery and disclosure of immigration status; and to repeal certain
provisions of the correction law relating thereto
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Ensures appropriate use of state and local resources by limiting the use
of state and local resources for immigration enforcement purposes.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill amends Criminal Procedure Law Section 1.20 to
add five new definitional subdivisions, 46 - 50, to define the terms
"immigration authorities", "immigration enforcement", "immigration law",
"immigration detainer", and "civil immigration warrant."
Section two adds a new Article 145 to the Criminal Procedure Law. This
article defines the duties of police officers, peace officers, and
school resource officers with regard to immigration enforcement. It
prohibits officers from using public resources for immigration enforce-
ment except when required by law, prohibits investigations, interro-
gations, inquires, or collection of information about immigration law
violations or about immigration status, nationality, or country of
origin except when required by law, prohibits notifications of release
date or court dates, prohibits transfer of people to ICE custody,
prohibits entering a person's immigration status into a database unless
necessary for a public program or benefit, prohibits the use of Immi-
gration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) as interpreters, and requires written notice of rights to inmates
in the event that ICE/CBP are allowed access for interviews. It does not
prohibit officers from complying with valid court orders or federal
judicial warrants.
Section three adds a new Section 256-b to the Executive Law. This
section defines the duties of local probation departments with regard to
immigration enforcement. It prohibits probation officers from inquiring
about immigration status, nationality, or country of origin except when
required by law or necessary for a public program or benefit, prohibits
communication with immigration authorities about people who are or have
been under department supervision and prohibits disclosure of informa-
tion. This section further prohibits collection of information about a
person's citizenship, immigration status, nationality, or country of
origin unless required by law or necessary for a public program or bene-
fit, prohibits investigations or interrogations about immigration law
violations, prohibits access to non-public areas of the probation agency
property by nonlocal law enforcement agencies without a judicial
warrant, requires written notice to inmates in the event that ICE/CBP
are allowed access for interviews, prohibits entering immigration status
into a departmental database unless necessary for a public program or
benefit, prohibits investigating a person's immigration status or histo-
ry (including providing such information in court-o rdered reports), and
prohibits the use of ICE or CBP as interpreters. It does not prohibit
local probation agencies from complying with valid court orders or
federal judicial warrants.
Section four adds a new Article 15-AA to the Executive Law. This article
defines the duties of state employees with regard to immigration
enforcement. It prohibits state employees from using public resources
for immigration enforcement, restricts disclosure of an individual's
personally identifiable information such as name, social security
number, physical description, home address, or telephone number to immi-
gration authorities, prohibits investigations or interrogations about
immigration law violations, prohibits inquiries about immigration
status, nationality, or country of origin except when required by law or
necessary for a public program or benefit, prohibits access by nonlocal
law enforcement to nonpublic areas of state property without a judicial
warrant, prohibits entering immigration status into a state database
unless necessary for a public program or benefit, prohibits the use of
ICE or CBP as interpreters, and requires reporting on communications
with immigration authorities. It does not prohibit state employees from
complying with valid court orders or federal judicial warrants.
Section five adds a new article 19-c to the General Municipal Law. This
article defines the duties of county, town, city, and village employees
with regard to immigration enforcement. It mirrors the same prohibitions
that are established in Section 4 relating to state employees, with one
exception relating to the authority of municipal officials to comply
with certain orders issued by state court judges to produce an individ-
ual to court.
Section six adds a new Article 25 to the Education Law, which bars all
public schools, charter schools, BOCES, higher education institutions,
the New York State Education Department, and any employees, school safe-
ty personnel, or third party contractors thereof from collecting infor-
mation about a person's citizenship or immigration status except as
necessary to administer a public program or benefit. All public schools,
charter schools, BOCES, higher education institutions, and the New York
State Education Department would be required to review their directory
information policies within 80 days of the effective date of the bill to
ensure that they are not inadvertently disclosing a student or parent's
immigration status. These entities must review all of their data
collection practices within 180 days, and would be barred from disclos-
ing any personally identifiable information to immigration authorities.
Educational entities would be required to develop protocols in the event
that immigration authorities request data about a student, which must
involve immediate parental notification. All requests for data would
have to be recorded and included in an annual report which would be a
public record.
The New York State Education Department would be required to promulgate
regulations within 180 days with a model policy, including guidelines on
how to respond to immigration authorities' requests for personally iden-
tifying information and training requirements for school personnel.
Schools would then be required to update their existing privacy policies
to ensure compliance.
School personnel would be barred from permitting nonlocal civil law
enforcement into nonpublic areas of campus property absent a judicial
warrant, and section seven of this bill provides that school district
transportation contracts would have to include agreements that transpor-
tation contractors would comply with a district's policies regarding
communication and coordination with immigration authorities.
Section eight creates a new subdivision 4-a to section 500-c of the
Correction Law to bar county correctional facilities from entering into
formal agreements or otherwise allowing their employees to be subject to
the direction of supervision of immigration authorities.
Section nine repeals section 147 of the Correction Law, which requires
correctional facilities to investigate immigrants and share that infor-
mation with immigration authorities.
Section ten repeals section 500-f of the Corrections Law, which requires
jails to collect and make public information such as a person's place of
birth, social relations, education, criminal history, discharge, and
employment details.
Section 11 adds a new subdivision 3 to section 621 of the Correction Law
to require law enforcement officers and agencies furnishing information
to agencies of other jurisdictions to obtain a certification that such
information will not be used for immigration enforcement.
Section 12 adds a new section 63-e to the Executive Law to require the
attorney general to create guidance on governing databases that limits
the availability of information for immigration enforcement to the full-
est extent possible and consistent with federal and state law and
further requires the attorney general to establish a system to solicit
and receive complaints from the public about the improper use of
resources by state or local entities or employees for immigration
enforcement or the improper sharing of information.
Section 13 adds language indemnifying public employees against criminal
or civil liability at the federal, state, or local level for actions
taken to comply with the bill.
Section 14 makes the bill effective immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
The proper role of state and local government and law enforcement is to
administer public services and promote public safety under the laws of
New York State and its municipalities, not to enforce federal immi-
gration law. However, state and local resources are too often misdi-
rected to assist immigration authorities in performing duties that fall
outside the realm of state and local concern. This entanglement with
immigration enforcement undermines the core mission of state and local
law enforcement by creating mistrust in immigrant communities and caus-
ing immigrants to abstain from reporting crimes or cooperating with
investigations. Immigrant New Yorkers who are the victims of crimes and
are seeking the assistance of local authorities cannot avail themselves
of appropriate government services. This entanglement also encourages
racial profiling by providing incentives to make pretextual arrests to
transfer people to the custody of immigration authorities.
State and local governments have no obligation to participate in immi-
gration enforcement. As the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division,
Second Department, affirmed in 2018, the New York Criminal Procedure Law
provides no authority for police officers and peace officers in New York
to make arrests for civil immigration violations absent a judicial
warrant. See The People, ex rel. Jordan Wells, on behalf of Susan Fran-
cis v. DeMarco, 168 A.D.3d 31 (2d Dept 2018). This legislation adds to
these existing restrictions on law enforcement officers' authority by
restricting information sharing with immigration authorities, prohibit-
ing formal agreements to enforce immigration law, and making clear that
public resources should not be used for immigration enforcement
purposes. The legislation also extends those limitations to other state
and local officials and employees.
Disentangling local law enforcement from immigration enforcement is
critical to protecting the rights of all New Yorkers, ensuring that
state and local officers can perform their core duties, promoting commu-
nity trust, and preventing disruption of workplaces, families and
support systems throughout the state. Doing so will help keep irreplace-
able workers in the workplace, maintain important sources of tax reven-
ue, and prevent unnecessary dependence on social services, aiding New
York taxpayers and the state economy and benefiting all residents of New
York State.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2025 - 2026: Referred to Codes
2024-2023: S987 - Referred to Codes
2021-2022: S3076B - Referred to Codes
2020: S7562 - Referred to Codes
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediate
