New York Gov. Kathy Hochul Wants ‘recourse’ When Ice Agents Act Improperly

ALBANY, New York — Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul wants expanded legal options for New Yorkers negatively impacted by President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts — and is poised to push for them in the coming days.

“Let’s start holding these people accountable,” Hochul said Thursday morning during an appearance on MSNOW’s “Morning Joe.”

The governor is expected to propose a measure that would enable New Yorkers to file lawsuits in state court against federal officials accused of violating a person’s constitutional rights — a plan she’s expected to formally detail in her State of the State address next week. Similar bills have been introduced in the Democratic-dominated state Legislature in response to Trump’s push to significantly expand deportations.

“New Yorkers who have had their constitutional rights violated because of an ICE agent — whether you’re a member of the media who was beaten up or someone whose business has been ransacked because the ICE agents come in and make them lose money or someone whose mother is murdered — they would have recourse against these individuals,” Hochul said.

The proposal is being weighed after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a mother in Minneapolis when a group of people gathered to protest an enforcement operation. Outraged Democrats across the country condemned the incident while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused the woman of committing “an act of domestic terrorism.”

Noem, who was in New York City on Thursday to tout immigration enforcement efforts there, announced the arrests of 54 people allegedly linked to the Manhattan shooting of an off-duty Customs and Border Patrol officer in July. She warned people not to confront officers.

“If you lay a finger on one of our officers, we will catch you, we will prosecute you, and you will feel the full extent of the law,” Noem said.

Hochul in her TV appearance blasted the death of the Minnesota woman, identified as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good.

“I’m so sickened as a mom that there’s a child that woke up yesterday, a 6-year-old, who had a loving mother and goes to bed an orphan,” Hochul said. “I’ll tell you, I’m going to defend rights — at least in New York.”

The governor’s proposal is the latest effort by New York Democrats to wade into the fraught politics of immigration enforcement by promising to counteract the federal government’s pursuit of undocumented immigrants.

The top Democrat in the state Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, this week called for the passage of a plan that would prevent law enforcement from coordinating with federal immigration officers. Democratic state lawmakers have also called for bills that would prevent ICE agents from wearing masks while carrying out official tasks.

"Right now federal officials who violate our rights — even deprive us of our lives — can't be held accountable in state court,” said Brooklyn Democratic state Sen. Zellnor Myrie. “The Minnesota shooting is an obvious wake-up call: New York needs to step up and make sure we can enforce our civil rights.”

Hochul’s likely Republican opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, has pursued the opposite track: He’s backed Trump’s enforcement policies and signed an order supporting law enforcement officials concealing their identity.

Blakeman called Good’s death “the predictable result of radical local elected officials who encouraged lawlessness and hostility toward law enforcement.” Hochul’s campaign accused him of trying to “blame the victim” while being unwilling to criticize Trump’s “dangerous policies that put American families at risk.”

And Blakeman criticized Hochul’s plan to broaden legal avenues against federal officials, warning it would undermine law enforcement.

“New York doesn’t have a law enforcement problem — it has a crime problem,” Blakeman said in a statement. “But instead of standing with the men and women who protect our communities, Gov. Hochul has chosen to demonize them. When Albany attacks law enforcement, criminals hear it loud and clear, and innocent New Yorkers pay the price.”