‘Tomorrow it will be you’: New York pols push state Civil Rights Act to hold ICE agents accountable for violating rights
Brooklyn state Sen. Zellnor Myrie issued a grim warning to New Yorkers on Friday: ICE agents aren’t just coming for immigrants.
“For those who think that this is just about immigration, this doesn’t touch me. I don’t have any friends or family that’s in this situation, I warn you today: now it is immigrants, tomorrow it will be you,” Myrie charged in Lower Manhattan on Friday morning.
Myrie and Assembly Member Gabriella Romero stood opposite 26 Federal Plaza in Foley Square on Jan. 23, where masked ICE agents have apprehended hundreds of immigrants over the past few months, and officially introduced legislation they say will provide New Yorkers with the ability to sue federal agents for civil rights violations.
The pair says that presently, New Yorkers are unable to sue the likes of ICE agents due to their federal status. The politicians railed that as the immigration crackdown across the country grows, and both immigrants and citizens alike end up interacting with the Feds, they underscored the need to provide the public with a legal path to accountability.
Dubbed the New York Civil Rights Act, the bill would allow New Yorkers to sue federal officers for violating their civil rights, a measure Gov. Kathy Hochul has backed in her executive budget released Tuesday.