ICE in New York: Attorney General Letitia James deploying legal observers to monitor immigration enforcement

In the wake of federal agents fatally shooting a second American in Minneapolis, New York Attorney General Letitia James is set to deploy a group of legal observers to monitor immigration enforcement across the state to identify possible violations of law.

The legal observers, composed of Office of the Attorney General (OAG) employees participating on a voluntary basis, will collect and respond to reports of significant enforcement activity and related protests. They will serve as "neutral witnesses on the ground," collecting information that could inform future legal action, according to James’ office.

"We have seen in Minnesota how quickly and tragically federal operations can escalate in the absence of transparency and accountability," James wrote in a statement.

The observers will not interfere with enforcement activity, James' office said.

It was not immediately clear how many legal observers would be assigned to the new Legal Observation Project. Those staff will wear identifiable purple, attorney general's office-branded safety vests.

Volunteer observers are expected to be deployed in the coming weeks, James' office said. 

Long Island’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has come under fire from state officials in recent days. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday a proposal to ban partnerships between local police, jails and ICE, such as the one in Nassau.

Those partnerships violate state law, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union and immigration attorneys.

Living in the U.S., even after entering illegally, is considered a civil rather than a criminal violation, so enforcement falls under the federal government. Local law enforcement cannot arrest or jail people for civil violations, according to New York law.

James issued a memo last year encouraging local police not to partner with ICE. "It remains unsettled in New York law whether [these] agreement[s] could justify state and local law enforcement to arrest and detain for immigration violations, given that such arrests and detention would otherwise be unlawful," she wrote.

While Nassau was the first New York county to sign an agreement with ICE after President Donald Trump began his second term, it is not the only one. Nine other counties across the state have joined since, bringing the total number to 11.

Nassau officials held more than 2,200 immigrants in an East Meadow jail on behalf of ICE through last October — 56% of whom had no criminal history.

The county violated its own agreement with ICE by holding hundreds of immigrants for longer than the three-day limit, Newsday reported. Nassau police also handed over to ICE more than five dozen people last year, some of whom were mostly accused of low-level offenses like theft, prostitution and drug possession.

For his part, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a candidate for governor, has maintained staunch support of Trump’s immigration campaign and local ICE enforcement, which he says is helping get criminals out of local communities.

Meanwhile in Suffolk, ICE also detained more than 1,000 people last year in a Central Islip courthouse, where six to eight immigrants spent hours around an open toilet in cells designed for one person. Federal prosecutors have since announced ICE will limit the number of detainees held there, and their length of stay.

James’ office is also encouraging New Yorkers to submit reports and videos of federal immigration enforcement online.