Advocates urge Trust Act, end to surveillance contracts as council hears DOI findings

Advocacy groups and legal service providers told a City Council oversight hearing that DOI’s reports — and recent enforcement activity — show why the council should move swiftly to strengthen sanctuary protections and limit municipal surveillance that can be used by federal immigration authorities.

Witnesses from Bronx Defenders, the Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP), the Pro Se Plus Project and the Asian American Federation described concrete harms they said stem from information sharing and surveillance. “Our city public hospitals partner with Palantir,” Jason Taper of STOP said, adding that Clearview AI and other commercial surveillance tools and the NYPD’s Domain Awareness System create pipelines that can be exploited by federal immigration enforcement.

Tania Matos of Unlocal and Benjamin Remy of the New York Legal Assistance Group gave firsthand accounts of people deported after interactions with city systems and of families too fearful to access health care, report crimes, or attend school activities. They called for passage of the New York City Trust Act, expanded rapid‑response legal services, and measures to prevent city data from being used by ICE.

Advocates asked the council to consider ordinances or contracting rules to prohibit city agencies from contracting with specific surveillance vendors or from sharing city data with federal immigration enforcement absent a judicial warrant. Panelists also recommended investing in language‑accessible, community‑based legal services and expanding the Pro Se Plus and Rapid Response Legal Collaborative programs to help detained or at‑risk immigrants navigate court and reporting obligations.

Council members raised questions about a rumored fusion center on Rikers Island and the surveillance architecture that links cameras, plate readers and other sensors. STOP and others said fusion centers and the Domain Awareness System can operate as de facto cross‑agency information hubs that increase the risk of downstream use by federal agencies.

Speakers urged the council to accompany oversight of DOI’s recommendations with policy changes to close legal and technical gaps: clear statutory language eliminating ambiguity about notification and detainer procedures, contract restrictions for companies whose products are used by federal immigration agencies, transparency about inter‑agency data sharing, and resourcing for legal services that mitigate harms.

The council committed to follow up with DOI and DOC for documentation and said it would consider additional legislative and budgetary steps based on the agencies’ responses and audit findings.