AP Photo In response to Trump, Assembly passes 'sanctuary state' bill

ALBANY — In New York’s broadest response yet to President Donald Trump’s early weeks in office, Democrats who dominate the state Assembly passed a bill Monday that would make New York a “sanctuary state,” and members are poised to again pass legislation that would open tuition assistance programs to undocumented students.

The bills were part of a slate of legislation, which passed the chamber over GOP objections, that face an uncertain-at-best fate in the state Senate, which is controlled by Republicans in coalition with the Independent Democratic Conference.


The move comes as the Republican president has moved to limit federal funds to sanctuary cities and threatened to defund California as a whole, as it heads towards becoming a sanctuary state. Sanctuary jurisdictions put barriers between local officials and federal authorities who may seek to deport undocumented immigrants.

“It is our job to respond to his call to build border walls with a wall of our own, one that protects diversity and acceptance that have always been at the core of our state,” Assemblyman Francisco Moya, a Democrat from Queens, said a press conference announcing the measure. “Not only is it a moral imperative to shelter every race or religion from bigotry, it is our obligation to protect the function of our local law enforcement and agencies."

Moya’s bill, dubbed the “New York State Liberty Act,” would prohibit state and local law enforcement from making arrests based on suspected immigration status and would prohibit state and local police officers from enforcing federal immigration laws.

The legislation would also limit when police agencies can collect data on immigration status from people reporting accidents or seeking help and would bar police from complying with federal immigration detention orders (or detainers) if they aren’t issued by a judge unless the individual in question has been convicted of a violent felony, has previously been deported, is on a terrorism watch list or has an outstanding warrant.

The bill would also guarantee a right to lawyers for people facing deportation. Neither Moya nor Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie estimated how much that provision would cost the state.

Assemblyman Dean Murray, a Republican from Long Island, said the bill would tie the hands of law enforcement.

“We pass laws for a reason — we pass laws to protect the public. Now we’re asking our local law enforcement to just completely ignore some of those laws,” he said. “That’s a problem. This is a matter of law. We need to allow law enforcement to work together to enforce all laws.”

It took almost an hour for Democratic leaders of the chamber to round up the votes needed to pass the bill, which cleared the chamber 77-58. Democrats from upstate and suburban areas joined Republicans in voting against the legislation, and some hesitated to vote yes until whipped.

“It’s like Christmas,” Assemblyman Mark Johns, a Republican from Rochester, said of the close votes. “The lights turn from red to green.”

Democrats voting no included Assembly members Robin Schimminger, Carrie Woerner, Phil Steck, Amy Paulin, Bill Magee, Billy Jones, David Buchwald, Mickey Kearns, Bill Magnarelli, Pamela Hunter, Didi Barrett, Brian Barnwell, Sandy Galef, Anthony Brindisi, James Skoufis, Al Stirpe and Ken Zebrowski. An official roll call will be available on Tuesday.

The tuition issue, called the Dream Act, has passed the Assembly for several years but has not advanced in the Senate. In 2014, the only time it came to the floor in the chamber, it was voted down. In 2015, Cuomo attempted to link the Dream Act to a Republican-sought tax credit for private, public and parochial school donations. This mashup also failed.

Heastie, at a press conference Monday, said the Assembly was passing the bill as a statement.

“Sometimes you need to take a stand,” he said, adding that New York has a “moral obligation” to help undocumented immigrants.

The New York State Conservative Party issued a memo on Monday urging legislators to oppose both bills. It called the Dream Act unfair.

“By providing scholarships and financial aid to certain immigrant students, our own citizens, who also struggle financially, may be denied their dreams of attending college, thereby undermining the very essence of everything America stands for,” the memo says.

Assemblyman Al Graf, a Republican from Long Island, opposed both bills and denounced Moya’s measure as “political theater.”

“We know it is never going to pass the other house, but it looks good in the paper,” Graf said. “But we’ve seen the actions of this new president, and I don’t think he’s bluffing when it comes to taking away federal money from the states. So if we’re playing with a third of our revenues, we could face a lot of problems here.”