New York Governor Demands Immediate End to ICE Enforcement Actions

Following reports of an increase in aggressive tactics in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids throughout New York, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo last week issued a cease and desist letter to halt the enforcement actions or he says he will commence legal action. Cuomo specifically cited the recent detaining and jailing of an employee at a dairy farm in Rome, NY in his letter: “On the morning of April 18, farmer John Collins heard a commotion on his property. Upon investigation, he discovered plain-clothed ICE agents aggressively questioning one of his farm workers while pushing him up against a window. Concerned for his employee and aware that the man’s young children who had been waiting for the school bus were now watching their father being assaulted, Mr. Collins approached your agents to determine what was happening on his privately owned property and to video what was taking place with his cellphone.  He was handcuffed and his cell phone was thrown on the ground.  Your agents did not have a warrant to enter Mr. Collins’s property nor did they identify themselves or their purpose for being there.  They handcuffed him and threatened to arrest him for properly exercising his constitutional rights.”