New York state lawmakers are accelerating work on a package of immigration protection bills following the death of a blind refugee who was abandoned by federal agents outside a closed Buffalo coffee shop last week.
Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a 56-year-old Rohingya man, died near a downtown arena after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents dropped him at the shuttered business, according to reports. Shah Alam was almost completely blind and spoke little English.
The refugee had been arrested last year and took a plea deal that secured his release from the Erie County Holding Center. Despite having legal refugee status, he was turned over to federal immigration agents upon his release.
Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan called the incident “bad policing, but it’s also bad human beings” and reinforced his city’s decision not to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. The circumstances surrounding Shah Alam’s death remain under investigation.
The Border Patrol said in a statement that Shah Alam received a “courtesy ride” from agents to the shop and upon release “showed no signs of distress, mobility issues, or disabilities requiring special assistance.”
The case has energized state lawmakers who are working on legislation to prevent local police agencies from assisting in civil immigration enforcement. State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, a Brooklyn Democrat, said the death should spur action.
“If it doesn’t, then shame on us,” Gounardes said. “There’s no reason why any lever or any office in state or local government should be participating in these horrific actions.”
Senators privately discussed a package of proposals on Wednesday that would restrict formal and informal cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies, according to five people familiar with the package but not authorized to discuss it publicly. The proposals would also ban agents from wearing masks and give New Yorkers more avenues to sue immigration agents.
The legislative push builds on immigration proposals from Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, who released a bill to ban formal 287(g) agreements between ICE and state or local entities. As part of her $262.7 billion budget proposal, Hochul also advanced language to prohibit civil immigration enforcement in sensitive locations like schools and hospitals.
Gounardes sponsors the New York for All Act, which would accomplish what Hochul proposed while also prohibiting informal collaboration between police and federal agents. The legislation would block federal authorities from using state or local resources for civil immigration enforcement and prevent federal agents from entering nonpublic areas of state and local property, according to its sponsors. It would also prohibit sharing sensitive information with ICE without a judicial warrant.
The Senate’s planned package would include “a version” of the New York for All Act, according to the sources, though exact details remain in flux. Some lawmakers in both chambers expressed concerns about restricting immigration collaboration when someone has been convicted of a serious crime.
State Sen. James Skoufis, an Orange County Democrat, noted that California’s sanctuary law included hundreds of exceptions for various offenses.
“I want to protect immigrants who are here and they live as good neighbors and they pay taxes and their kids go to school and they just want to live their lives peaceably with everybody else,” Skoufis said. “I am not interested in protecting undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes from deportation.”
The Senate package would also include legislation to prohibit local jails from being used for immigration detention. State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a Bronx Democrat, rallied last week for the Dignity Not Detention Act with around two dozen supporters.
Rivera said he wants the legislation to be more stringent than Hochul’s proposals, calling the governor’s approach “a first step that was a positive one.”
