After a final week of the legislative session marked by frustration among progressive lawmakers and advocates that not enough was being done to counter the Trump Administration on immigration, some New York state lawmakers want another chance.
State Sens. Jabari Brisport and Julia Salazar are among the lawmakers on X calling for a special session to pass the New York for All Act.
“I’m calling on the NY Legislature to reconvene in a special session,” Salazar wrote. “It’s never too late to protect New Yorkers.”
Brisport echoed that in a post of his own.
“For the next six months’ Trump will be escalating attacks on New York without our state government scheduled to pass ANY legislation to respond and protect New Yorkers,” he said in a statement. In a corresponding post on X, he went on to say “We need a special session, our people cannot wait.”
The New York For All Act would limit collaboration between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement officials and is a cornerstone of the legislative push for advocates like Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition.
“We know that the bill would have passed in both houses so we join them in their call for a special session in this moment,” he said.
But why call a special session when the Democratic majorities in both houses had a six-month regular session to pass bills, and in this case, one that has significant support?
“We didn’t have six months to work on it,” Awawdeh said. “The budget went until May and so we had only two weeks of session days in Albany to build up the support that we did and we’re proud of the work we have done.”
The bill would codify and further flesh out a policy that is already partly covered under executive order to include local law enforcement among other provisions. This week in New York City, Gov. Kathy Hochul defended that policy after sparring with congressional Republicans over it in a hearing on "sanctuary state" policies last week.
“We’re not using our limited resources to do civil immigration enforcement, and that is the policy here locally,” she told reporters at a news conference in which she also responded to New York City Comptroller Brad Lander being detained by ICE. Hochul has stressed that the order still allows cooperation when it comes to criminal activity.
At the GOP-led hearing, Hochul was grilled by potential Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler over whether she would go further than the executive order and sign the New York For All Act if it did pass, which at the time was still technically possible given that both houses were still in session though highly unlikely.
Hochul told Lawler what those who cover her in Albany know well: she doesn’t comment on legislation publicly until she makes a decision.
Republicans at the state level like Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick meanwhile staunchly oppose the bill.
“You are breaking the law, and I think local law enforcement should work hand in hand with federal ICE authorities — they do in many other cases,” he said.
Fitzpatrick said he imagines that if it wasn't passed during the regular session, there won't be an appetite to come back to Albany, but said Republicans would be ready to resist if a special session was called.
Amid concerns about due process at the federal level, Awawdeh stressed that the bill should be considered a public safety issue regardless of status.
“If they are ever in trouble, or the victim of a crime, or witness a crime, they should feel comfortable calling the police and if they are sick they should go to a hospital,” he said.
Representatives for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins did not respond to a request for comment, though a special session is considered unlikely.