Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Meets With Immigration Advocates and Families Impacted by ICE Overreach to Highlight New Protections to Keep New York Communities Safe

Earlier today, Governor Hochul met with immigration advocates, faith leaders, educators, and New Yorkers impacted by aggressive federal immigration enforcement to highlight new protections included in her FY27 Enacted Budget.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

I'm a mom, so if you guys want to go out and get a drink of water and go get a cookie or something, I'll take care of you. I know how to take care of young people. Well, thank you for joining me. This is an important day for our state and in a few moments, I'll be signing a bill that we've worked on intensely that I proposed back in January to show the nation and the rest of New Yorkers, and certainly Washington, who we are, our values and how we stand up for people in our state. And I'm really proud of this day. It was a long, long negotiation with the legislature. A lot of opinions on this, but I knew at the end of the day that we had to show communities that we are here to protect them. I think back to the climate in January, when there was such attention from everyone around the world, literally what was happening in Minneapolis with the protests there and the murder of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

And just a few months ago in my hometown of Buffalo, Mr. Shah Alam left to freeze to death in the cold and I knew his story. I grieved with his widow and his sons, and it just broke my heart. My concern is that the attention span of this country moves on quickly, but there's still people being affected and institutions being affected in houses of worship being affected and schools being affected and people afraid to go shopping and neighborhood bodegas are being affected. And all of you represent an important voice for me to hear today. But also just as you hear from me on what we're intending to do in a few moments is to say that we will not be allowing civil immigration to occur with ICE agents in sensitive locations unless you have a court order or warrant for arrest. That would be a church, a place of worship, a school, a community center, our courthouses because we do not want this rampant abuse of power — flagrant abuse of power — to continue anymore in our streets and in our communities. So we're standing up.

We're also saying there is no reason why ICE agents need to have a mask on. Other federal agents do not. You don't see it on DEA agents, ATF agents, FBI agents. You don't see it on our state police or our local police. So there is no rationale other than to be intimidating and threatening to people and so we are banning masks for all law enforcement in the State of New York. Next, we are also making sure that people have a constitutional right to go to court if the federal government ICE agents have violated their rights. Whether it's a family of someone who's been left to die in the cold, or whether someone has had their business disrupted or their place of worship disrupted, people have rights that we are not forgoing just because there's been this decision by the Trump administration to unleash hell on our streets. And this is a moment for us, this is an important moment for us to stand up for everyone. We are in a place where we will protect people who are law abiding, and this does not mean that we are a sanctuary for criminals.

People are trying to play this into, “Oh, you're inviting all the murderers and rapists.” False narrative, we've got to shut that down right now. This is about protecting people who came, just like my grandparents came here in search of a better life and started with nothing, they were dirt poor. My grandpa was a migrant farm worker in the wheat fields of South Dakota because they would not hire the Irish at the time. A lot of discrimination back in those early days, and I'm a beneficiary of a system that embraced them, that gave an education. Public education got me where I am today, and so I want that available for everyone. But Donald Trump said when he ran for office, “I'm going to go after the worst of the worst, the baddest of the bad,” and people believed him. They bought that narrative and people thought, “Okay, the baddest of the bad should go, correct.” But that is not who he's been going after students, parents on their way to a job. People going to a courthouse to follow the rules that they're told to follow and they became sitting prey in a system that has been so skewed, so abused, so hijacked by immoral forces and that's why we're standing here together.

And we'll be in a few moments, signing a bill. I'll be giving out a lot of pens to say that this is America still. 250 years later, it has its flaws but as a country we cherish, we love this country and we're going to fight for it. And it starts with a place here in New York, based on the legislation that I was able to secure with our leaders in the legislature.

So, Bishop Hyde and the Episcopal Church, I want to thank you for being a beacon of support for the community. We've had conversations about this, but tell me what this means with respect to protecting sensitive locations like a place of worship.