NEW YORK, United States (CMC) – Caribbean immigration advocates have welcomed a United States (US) federal judge’s ruling in favour of a New York ban on local law enforcement officers working with agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), being able to make civil arrests.

Judge Mae A. D’Agostino also rejected the injunction on another law giving New York Attorney General Letitia James the authority to investigate sheriffs who cooperate with ICE.

Both measures were signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul in May as part of a sweeping budget package that places limits on local law enforcement’s ability to engage in or assist with President Donald Trump’s civil immigration enforcement or otherwise perform the functions of federal immigration officers.

“The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) thanks Albany-based Judge Mae A. D’Agostino for rejecting a preliminary injunction request from a coalition of more than 15 county sheriffs claiming that the ban violates federal and state constitutions,” NYIC President and CEO Murad Awawdeh told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

NYIC is an umbrella organisation of over 200 immigrant and refugee groups in New York and Awawdeh said the ruling ensures that neither federal financial incentives to local law enforcement agencies nor politics can undermine the public safety needs and priorities of all New Yorkers.

“In an environment where ICE agents are brutally attacking immigrant New Yorkers at home, on our streets, and in other public spaces, the ban prioritises the public trust that is needed to keep all New Yorkers safe,” he added.

Governor Hochul has defended her policy in opposing ICE attacks in New York, particularly in the Haitian community in Brooklyn, New York.

“ICE is prohibited from going to sensitive locations. We’re very focused when it comes to ICE and its devastating impact on the community. People are terrified, and it seems very un-American (ICE’s tactics),” Hochul added.

Caribbean immigration advocates in New York have also welcomed a lawsuit by the governor and James against the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office in Upstate New York for failing to comply with the state’s Local Cops, Local Crimes Act that prevents collusion with ICE agents.

The legislation prohibits New York State and local law enforcement agencies and local governments from entering into or maintaining 287(g) agreements with ICE for federal civil immigration enforcement and requires any agreements in place to have been terminated by August 25, 2026.

Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault has refused to terminate its 287(g) agreement.

“We applaud Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Hochul for taking every step necessary to ensure that New York’s law enforcement agencies remain accountable to the communities they serve and focused on keeping all New Yorkers safe, not carrying out ICE and the Trump administration’s deportation agenda,” Awawdeh said.

“Every law enforcement agency in New York has a duty to serve and protect every resident, while upholding state and local law”.