Gov. Kathy Hochul marked the first anniversary of an immigration enforcement raid at a family-owned New York business by defending state limits on local police participation in federal civil immigration enforcement.
Hochul said federal agents detained 69 people during the raid at Nutrition Bar Confectioners, including three mothers with infants, and accused agents of separating workers based on skin color.
The governor linked the raid to other incidents involving immigration enforcement in New York, including the death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam in Buffalo and the pepper-spraying of a protester during an operation she identified as “Operation Rotten Apple.” Her statement attributed the conduct to federal agents but did not provide additional investigative findings.
Hochul said the state responded by adopting the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bars local law enforcement from being used as federal immigration agents or carrying out civil immigration enforcement.
She also pointed to a state law allowing New Yorkers to sue government officials over alleged constitutional violations and protections intended to keep immigration authorities out of sensitive locations.
The governor said she would continue seeking information from federal officials and challenging what she described as federal overreach. Her statement did not include a response from the Trump administration or federal immigration authorities.
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