(NEWS10) — Since Pres. Donald Trump took office for his second term, executive orders have been issued aimed at immigration policy. Local charities and law enforcement spoke with NEWS10 to get an understanding of what the new orders mean for the Capital Region.
“We are trying to make sure that all of our program sites are as safe and secure as they possibly can be,” Daniel Butterworth said.
Butterworth is the executive director of Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus (RISSE) in Albany. He said the order has impacted local services.
“Allows ICE to go into sensitive spaces, which would include churches of faith, community spaces, schools, hospitals and social service agencies.”
Butterworth said his group and others like it in the Capital Region are worried about people who recently immigrated as well as those who have been in the area for years.
“At the moment, the emphasis is on folks who have been convicted or charged with crimes,” he said. “Folks who did not check in at the border when they crossed and have not yet filed for asylum or temporary protected status; anyone who has been charged with a crime is now vulnerable. Not just convicted but charged.”
He further explained who the order could affect.
“Folks who claimed asylum through the CBP One app, which was a legal pathway. Also, folks who are here under the temporary Protected Temporary Protected Status Program, and folks who are here under humanitarian parole, which is specifically folks from Afghanistan and Ukraine. The local resettlement agency has already received a stop work order from the federal government to cease operations on resettlement.”
While Butterworth said he doesn’t have an exact number, he said the number of people in the Capital Region they are concerned about is several thousand.
But the New York State attorney general says differently when it comes to law enforcement in the state and the president’s executive orders.
“In New York state, we have laws that protect immigrants and limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts. Those laws should continue to be followed by all New York law enforcement and officials.
But in Rensselaer County, Sheriff Kyle Bourgault said they have a working relationship with federal partners and ICE. He said, however, his deputies will not — and are not — participating in any active roundups or raids in the Capital Region.
“Whenever someone comes into our jail, on unrelated charges, they are run through a federal database to see if they are wanted by ICE for crimes committed in this country or in another country. It is no different than if we had an inmate in the jail who was wanted by another local police department; we would notify that agency.”
NEWS10 reached out to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants on the order to cease operations in Albany. We are waiting to hear back.
Read the latest from NEWS10:
NEWS10 is the Capital Region’s local news leader!