Push to limit immigration officials in NYC jails

The City Council is introducing a bill to limit the role of federal immigration authorities in local jails.
 
Officials at Rikers Island regularly share information about prisoners with immigration authorities under a long-standing arrangement. They also hold prisoners on federal immigration detainers.
 
But City Council members say the city shouldn’t be cooperating so extensively as the Obama administration ramps up deportations.
 
Supporters say the arrangement separates families and compromises public safety because it makes immigrants fearful of going to the police.
 
The bill would prevent jails from holding people who don’t have a criminal record and are not convicted in their current case on immigration detainers.
 
The move comes amid heated debate around the country over the deportations of people accused of low-level offenses.