Dignity not Detention Act introduced in NYS legislature

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A bill introduced in the New York State Legislature would prohibit the state and local law enforcement from contracting with federal immigration enforcement to hold people in immigration detention for civil immigration violations.

Dignity not Detention is the name of the legislation Senator Julia Salazar wants to see get passed. She said there are some sheriff's offices operating county jails in New York that contract with ICE.

"Orange County, in the Rensselaer County Jail, and just as of last week in Broome County, individuals who are charged with civil violations, immigration violations, they have been taken away from their families and are being held in immigration detention," said Salazar. "It doesn’t have to be that way."

The bill memorandum mentions that people have shared stories of abuse and harassment at the Orange County Correctional Facility. It also mentions complaints were filed against the Rensselaer County Jail.

"The conditions that are being described in the bill memorandum just are not existent in either of those counties, I’m very confident," said Peter Kehoe, Executive Director of the New York State Sheriffs Association.

Kehoe said the legislation is ill-advised.

"This bill tries to make a distinction between criminal violations and civil violations, but what’s the point? If you have a criminal violation or a criminal law, it’s okay to enforce it? But if it’s a civil law you’re not supposed to enforce it? So, why do you have a civil law?"

The bill is currently in committee.