Assemblyman Curran Concerned by Assembly's Push to Prevent Deportation of Violent Undocumented Immigrants

“I am very deeply troubled by the votes taken last night by Assembly Democrats to force through legislation (A.3049-B & A.4881) that jeopardizes the safety of the people of New York State. Regardless of how one feels about the current immigration issue, these two bills curtail the deportation of violent felony and misdemeanor offenders, even though so many agree those individuals should, in fact, be deported. I am astounded at how hard Assembly Democrats are working to prevent violent undocumented criminals from being deported out of New York State and back to their country of origin

“Under Assembly Bill 3049-B, law enforcement personnel cannot question individuals regarding immigration status during the investigation of a crime. Additionally, this bill would prevent the arrest, questioning or investigation of a suspect based on a violation of immigration law. Furthermore, this legislation would also prevent state agencies from inquiring of a person’s immigration status when that individual applies for public services. This legislation has been referred as the Sanctuary State Bill.

“Under Assembly Bill 4881, the penalty for Class A misdemeanors would be reduced to one day less than one full year. This would exempt this class of misdemeanors from an automatic deportation order, and provide discretion to the judge whether to issue a deportation order. Such crimes that may be exempt from mandatory deportation orders include, assault in the third degree, menacing in the third degree, reckless endangerment, stalking, sexual misconduct, forcible sexual touching, sexual abuse in second degree, unlawful imprisonment in second degree, obscenity, inciting riot, aggravated harassment and prostitution in a school zone.

“Both of these bills passed the Assembly last night by the minimum vote with no Republican support for either.

“We just got through a national election where the elected officials on both sides of the aisle agreed during the campaign that undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes, particularly felonies, should be deported. Less than two months after the election, politicians are going back on that promise, and making it difficult to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed violent crimes. To knowingly institute policies that are in direct conflict with federal directives and establish New York State cities and counties as places of sanctuary for illegal immigrants is a waste and an abuse of taxpayer money. I voted against these two bills, and I will continue to fight for the safety of the residents of my district.”