NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2144
SPONSOR: Solages TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to extortion or coercion
related to immigration status
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Extortion and coercion involve compelling a person to turn over property
or to engage or refrain from engaging in other conduct by intimidation,
including threatening to cause criminal charges to be instituted against
him or her. This bill amends the Penal Law definitions of "extortion"
and "coercion" to also include making threats for such purposes to cause
deportation proceedings to be brought against an individual.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Bill § 1 amends subdivision 4 of § 135.60 of the Penal Law to provide
that the offense of larceny by extortion includes compelling a person to
turn over property by instilling a fear that, if the property is not
delivered, the actor or another will accuse some person of a crime or
cause criminal charges "or deportation proceedings" to be instituted
against him or her.
Bill § 2 amends subparagraph (iv) of paragraph (e) of subdivision 2 of §
155.05 of the Penal Law to provide that the offense of coercion in the
second degree includes compelling a person to engage or abstain from
engaging in conduct by instilling a fear that, if the demand is not
complied with, the actor or another person will accuse some person of a
crime or cause criminal charges "or deportation proceedings" to be
instituted against him or her.
EFFECTS OF PRESENT LAW WHICH THIS BILL WOULD ALTER:
Under the Penal Law, a threat to report a person's immigration status
could currently be treated as a crime in cases of labor trafficking (§
135.35) and sex trafficking (§ 230.34). However, such threats are not
currently treated as potential extortion or coercion offenses.
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would apply the same standard to threats to cause deportation
proceedings instituted against an individual for purposes of extortion
or coercion as currently apply to threats to cause criminal charges to
be instituted for such purposes. Deportation proceedings are not crimi-
nal trials, but their nature and consequences are similar enough to
justify their including within these offenses. New Federal policies that
focus on deporting immigrants for any possible reason make many immi-
grant New Yorkers more vulnerable to extortion or coercion.
This bill would place efforts to blackmail an individual by threatening
to cause deportation proceedings to be instituted on an equal footing
with similar efforts involving criminal charges. The bill is based on
model legislation recommended by the Public Leadership Institute. Simi-
lar measures have been enacted in California, Colorado, Maryland and
Virginia.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A6728 2017-2018 Legislative Session
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Thirtieth day after becoming law.
