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.”
As part of her effort to prevent deportations, Mark-Viverito said she would push legislation to create a city “alternative” to the state’s disorderly conduct law so minor violations don’t trigger federal action.
The anti-Trump, pro-immigrant platform was one of several policy announcements Mark-Viverito made Thursday.
Plans to overhaul the city’s sex education curriculum, offer more birth control to women and join a national group of city legislators to promote a unified urban agenda are also likely to figure prominently in her last year as Speaker.
Mark-Viverito can’t run again because of term limits.
In a video before her speech, Mark-Viverito joked about her job options after finishing her term. After her speech, some suggested she run for mayor, but not all the reviews were positive.
“It’s no surprise the Speaker’s final State of the City address continued to push a liberal agenda that she set forth on day one.” said the Council’s Republican Minority Leader Steven Matteo. “I have made it very clear that I disagree with it, and believe it is the wrong path forward for our city.”