























Ex-Gov. David Paterson slammed Gov. Kathy Hochul and fellow Democrats Sunday for ramming through a package of anti-ICE sanctuary laws — warning the crusade could cost the Empire State.
Paterson accused Hochul and Albany lawmakers of “really impairing” local governments’ ability to cooperate with federal agencies, possibly increasing the chance of federal raids and opening up the state to lawsuits with taxpayers on the hook for the tab.
“The last I heard, the federal government supersedes the local government,” Paterson told radio host John Catsimatidis on 77 WABC’s “Cats Roundtable.”
“When I was governor, I tried to adhere to that,” said Paterson, who also previously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Party.
His comments come after Democrats passed a sweeping package of bills that largely outlaw cooperation with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The sprawling legislative package not only handcuffs cops from partnering with federal immigration authorities, but also bars ICE agents from most public places like hospitals and parks, and prevents them from wearing masks.
It also seeks to undo “287-g” cooperation deals that local governments struck up with federal officials to hold detainees for ICE. This would include Nassau County, where Hochul’s rival GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman is now serving as county executive.
The state bill passed last week bans those agreements and goes a step further — prohibiting all “informal cooperation,” such as a local cop calling ICE if they believe they have an undocumented migrant in custody.
Blakeman praised Paterson as a “common sense” Democrat.
“Common Sense Democrats know that Kathy Hochul has made our neighborhoods less safe with her pro-criminal policies,” Blakeman told The Post. “Governor Paterson is a sensible and thoughtful Democrat who is rightfully appalled with Hochul’s support of this dangerous legislation.”
GOP county executives will likely sue Hochul and the Democrats for restricting their ability to help the federal government enforce immigration law, Paterson said.
Follow live updates on Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s socialist agenda and the latest in NYC politics
“Nassau County, Suffolk County, the other counties around the state could ban together and bring a lawsuit against the state legislature itself, and the governor for taking this approach.” said Paterson, who served as governor from 2008-2010 when former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned. “I just don’t understand how we got into the situation we are in now.
“It was an egregious mistake they made,” he said of his fellow Democrats.
The package includes:
Hochul, who is seeking re-election this fall to a second full, four-year term, first unveiled her anti-ICE pitch earlier this year, in the wake of President Trump’s ICE surge in Minnesota.
The governor defended the measures outlawing cooperation with ICE during a recent press event.
“This is where the State law would take precedence over local preference and the Attorney General’s office would be empowered to enforce as she does with other laws of the State of New York to ensure full compliance,” Hochul said.
Hochul also said local police should focus on crime and local emergencies, not immigration enforcement.
“It’ll make New York a leader in addressing ICE overreach while also ensuring that there’s no sanctuary for criminals in this state,” Hochul said in Buffalo on Thursday.
“ICE has $85 billion. They should not be using local police or local jails to do their jobs.”
She said the exception where police can cooperate with ICE is when undocumented immigrants are involved with serious crimes.
“So I just want to have some guardrails on this,” the governor said.
“And I also don’t think it’s appropriate that they are the only law enforcement — including all federal, state and local — that think they need a mask to do their jobs,” Hochul went on. “That is just an intimidation tactic, and I don’t want to see that any longer in the state of New York. Again, if there’s crimes, criminals, we will help you — we always have, always will. But we’re not going to be involved in civil immigration harassment.”
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理,仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。