NYSAC warns some public-safety grants tie eligibility to cooperation on immigration enforcement

NYSAC told the committee that certain public-safety grants from the Department of Justice's COPS office include compliance conditions and priority considerations tied to cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

"As a compliance condition, applicants have to comply with the federal statute that bars restricting officials from sharing immigration status information with DHS," Alex Regan said while summarizing the COPS grants that total about $700,000,000 and cover hiring officers, school safety and anti-opioid efforts. She added that preference would go to jurisdictions that cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and join a Homeland Security task force.

Regan and Dave Lucas noted that the underlying Section 1373-related legal issues have been litigated repeatedly and that New York State is part of ongoing litigation; they stressed the nuance that the statutory text has been interpreted in multiple ways and that counties should seek legal guidance when required to certify compliance.