Buffalo, NY—Today, Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan issued an executive order prohibiting the City of Buffalo from using personnel, funds, and resources for federal civil immigration enforcement. Additionally, it bars City employees from collecting immigration status information and prohibits detention, transfers of custody, or keeping individuals in custody based solely on detainers or administrative warrants. It prohibits local law enforcement from entering into formal agreements or informally assisting federal immigration authorities. The executive order takes effect immediately.
“We thank Mayor Ryan for taking action to protect every Buffalo resident in response to the federal attacks on our immigrant neighbors in Buffalo and across the country. ICE agents have been increasingly active and aggressive in the Buffalo area over the last year, creating fear and chaos as they separate our families and destabilize our communities. This important executive order offers protection to all people within city limits, however immigrant families and workers remain vulnerable as they commute to and from the city for work, school, or essential needs. We also need a single, statewide legislative solution that ensures safety for all immigrant New Yorkers, regardless of where they live in our state. The New York for All Act would prohibit state and local law enforcement from colluding with ICE to enforce federal immigration laws without a judicial warrant. We continue to urge the state legislature to pass the New York for All Act to ensure families from Dunkirk to Dix Hills can live in dignity and safety, free from the fear of detention and deportation,” said Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition.
"When local authorities cooperate with federal civil immigration enforcement, they corrupt the essential public services that ought to be available to all without fear. We have seen that such cooperation has resulted in violations of the constitutional and human rights of Western New Yorkers—rights to due process and equal protection, to health and education, and the right to seek asylum. With this Executive Order, Mayor Ryan and the City of Buffalo make clear they will not be complicit in such violations. This principled and important step must be met with an equally strong commitment at the state level, through the passage of New York for All, which would preserve guarantees of human rights and the rule of law for all New Yorkers," said Paul Linden-Retek, Co-director, Buffalo Human Rights Center.
“Today has been a long time coming; the immediate passage of this order by the new administration less than a month into office sends a clear message that Buffalo intends to stand with all of its residents at a time when divisive and violent Federal policy- and agents- try to target and harm our neighbors. As a city, and as a state, immigrant is one of the many identities we proudly hold, one that has led us to thrive, one that we have to protect for now and for the future through this Executive Order today- and the passage of New York for All, tomorrow,” said Jennifer Connor, Executive Director, Justice for Migrant Families.