Hochul Urges New York Localities to Block ICE Expansion With 2 Hearing Rule
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Sep 14
Hochul Urges New York Localities to Block ICE Expansion With 2 Hearing Rule
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Sep 14
Summary
Kathy Hochul told New York local governments they can use zoning rules and state environmental law to slow or stop ICE from building or expanding detention facilities.
Her letter offers a new playbook for resisting President Donald Trump’s deportation push, building on a May state package that requires public notice and at least two hearings for detention projects.
That package also bars local governments from giving financial benefits to offset facility costs, adding another obstacle for proposed ICE sites.
ICE recently told the state Rochester has no directed detention project, Batavia is in early-stage talks over bed expansion, and a Hudson Valley lease search is underway.
The guidance broadens Hochul’s immigration push in New York, where local officials have already raised alarms over possible ICE growth in Batavia, Newburgh and Rochester.
Can local zoning and environmental laws successfully halt federal infrastructure, or will federal authority override these state-level roadblocks?
Will banning local detention contracts inadvertently force detainees into more crowded federal facilities further away from their legal representation?