City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito vowed Thursday to block federal agents from city property where New Yorkers get social services, saying the city would act as a “watchdog” against President Trump’s immigration policies.
The properties include hospitals, court houses, homeless shelters and job centers.
Mark-Viverito also said the Council would create a “comprehensive system” to limit the city’s gathering of personal data Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials might use to deport people.
“The Council will pass legislation blocking ICE from private areas on city property and offices where New Yorkers receive social services, unless they have a judicial warrant or court order,” she said during a 58-minute State of the City speech at the Kings Theater.
“We will not allow officers of the Department of Probation, the NYPD, and the Department of Correction to act as ICE agents and enforce immigration law,” she added. “They have better things to do.”
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