Congressman Bob Turner said last week that he and the Department of Homeland Security are looking into a federal statute to overturn a bill New York City recently passed to limit deportation of illegal immigrants.
Intro 656, signed into law last month, restricts what illegal immigrants the Department of Corrections is allowed to hold for an extra 48 hours to turn over to federal authorities.
“There may be an opportunity for a federal statute here— that’s being investigated right now—to override this,” Turner (R-Queens) told the Juniper Parks Civic Association ( JPCA) at its Christmas party on Dec. 8.
The JPCA doesn’t seem to be letting up on this issue, which it has pounded on for more than a month now.
Turner sits on the House Committee of Homeland Security and was brought into the opposition by the JPCA after Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the bill into law.
Now that the bill has made it past the city level, JPCA and Turner are going straight to the federal level, and Turner said that although he hasn’t nailed down how or if the law can be rebuffed nationally, it’s made waves.
“This issue in New York City resonated in the capitol,” Turner told the crowd.
He said six other municipalities have passed or are considering similar legislation, and in discussions with Homeland Security officials, Turner concluded it’s a threat to national security.
“As you may remember, in the 9/11 commission, we investigated the intelligence failures that helped create this act, and the failure to detect this act was because one agency could not talk to [another],” Turner said. “Individual’s rights were protected from intelligence agencies telling law enforcement. New York City is doing the exact same thing right now.”
The bill’s one restriction on information-sharing prohibits the DOC from telling federal immigration authorities when an illegal immigrant is released.
Illegal immigrants the DOC will still hold for federal au- thorities include any who have been convicted of a crime, are defendants in a criminal case, have a criminal warrant or order of removal, or are identified as known gang members or possible terrorists through national databases.
Elsewhere in the city, Intro 656 has mostly met support.
Immigration rights groups have rallied behind it, saying nonviolent immigrants who are arrested and can’t make bail are unfairly separated from their families and deported, which can cause a distrust of police in immigrant neighborhoods.
The City Council passed it overwhelmingly with more than 40 sponsors including Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village), who argued the bill will save the city $300 a day for each illegal immigrant who will no longer be held.
Crowley, who chairs the Fire and Criminal Justice Committee, said that could amount to more than $20 million a year.
When he signed Intro 656 on Nov. 22, Mayor Bloomberg called the bill balanced and said it protects low-level inmates from being separated from their families.
Councilman Peter Vallone (D-Astoria), one of only four council members to vote against the bill, attended the JPCA meeting as well, railing against the bill but saying there’s not much more that can be done at the city level.
When asked what could be done, he sighed. “Two years from now there are new elections,” he said.
By Jeremiah Dobruck
