Cato

Since the Trump administration has come into power in January 2025, we've seen an escalation from day one, an escalation across the state of New York and this country.

Within the first couple of weeks, we saw a raid in North Country, New York, witnessing a family being detained and then separated from their community and their loved ones, down to the horrendous raid that happened in Cato, New York, at a manufacturing plant.

And then the street arrests that we've been seeing across the entire state and heavily here in New York City as well.

The Trump administration has continued to escalate against immigrant New Yorkers and under the guise that this is about safety and security when it's never been about safety and security.

And the act would ensure that anyone going to court can't afford a lawyer, will be afforded one.

The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed several lawsuits over the past year related to ICE raids and arrests, where ICE officers are alleged to have stepped out of bounds.

In one example you had mentioned earlier in Cato, New York, in September of last year, the NYCLU found from an unsealed warrant application that 60 ICE officers and Customs and Border Patrol agents did not have the authority to arrest or seize any of the 100 people they detained that day.

The lawsuit highlights the issue of this kind of ICE interference, not based on any suspicion of individuals who may have committed crimes, but rather racial profiling.