State And Local Cooperation With Federal Immigration Enforcement Violates Human Rights In Western New York
BUFFALO, N.Y.—The Buffalo Human Rights Center of the University at Buffalo School of Law today released a report on the human rights implications of cooperation by state and local governmental institutions with federal immigration enforcement authorities in Western New York.
The report, Ending Complicity: The Harms of State and Local Collusion with Federal Immigration Enforcement in Western New York, finds that this cooperation subjects individuals in WNY to violations of internationally recognized human rights to due process and equal protection; to family life and privacy; access to health, employment, and education; participation in the political community; and the right to seek asylum. These violations reach many areas of life: the school, the bus stop, the neighborhood street, the workplace, the farm, the hospital room, the home. They affect immigrants, refugees and asylees, asylum seekers, mixed-status families, and citizens, as well.
The report documents how state and local authorities, sometimes by design and sometimes by failures to take adequate care, are responsible for these violations. The report’s conclusions describe state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement as something illicit—and therefore as a form of ‘collusion’ in an unlawful system of governmental power that ought to end. The report recommends that state and local officials—elected and administrative—enact policies to immediately prohibit such practices and create structures of accountability and oversight to protect the human rights of New York communities. The report addresses its recommendations to end or minimize collusion to many individuals: elected officials, chiefs of police and sheriffs, administrators of schools and hospitals, parents and teachers, civil society groups, neighbors and the general public, and impacted individuals themselves.
The report’s most immediate recommendation is for the New York State Legislature, with utmost urgency, to pass the New York for All Act. Passage of the bill would limit or eliminate the lawful authority of state and local agencies to enforce federal immigration laws, to turn individuals over to ICE custody, or to disclose private information to federal immigration agencies. It would ensure that people in state custody are notified of their rights before being questioned by ICE; and restrict ICE and CBP from accessing private areas of state and local property without judicial warrant. Together, these measures would help remedy rights violations in the workplace; prevent or correct for vulnerabilities experienced in school by students and their families; secure immigrants’ access to hospitals and healthcare services; empower individuals to seek the help of police officers in the interest of public safety, and preserve the integrity of the refugee resettlement mission of Western New York.
This report is the result of legal and policy research and dozens of extended structured interviews with impacted individuals, advocates, service providers, concerned neighbors, community activists, and public officials that were conducted in late 2024 and 2025 by student attorneys in the Human Rights Practicum, a clinical course at the University at Buffalo School of Law. “The report’s analysis makes clear that, in the absence of firm policies prohibiting collusion and structures of oversight, state and local agencies are failing their obligations under international human rights law, which imposes universal responsibilities on governments to protect the rights of all individuals, regardless of citizenship status,” said Paul Linden Retek, Co-director of the Buffalo Human Rights Center and Associate Professor of Law at the UB School of Law. “Our law students ask state and local officials to acknowledge this failure honestly and to end the complicity of WNY’s public authorities.” The report’s findings and recommendations were presented by several of its student authors, alongside representatives from Justice for Migrant Families, Jericho Road Community Health Center, and the New York Immigration Coalition and community faith leaders, on December 10 (International Human Rights Day) at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.
“Our current immigration system is beyond broken—it is intentionally cruel and in violation of so many ideals we claim to cherish as Americans,” said Catharine Grainge, immigration attorney. “By getting close to my clients and their families, I gained a better understanding of what regular people like police officers, medical providers, and community members can do to reduce the cruelty, to end the due process violations, and to minimize the attempts to strip so many of their God-given dignity. We all have a role in this; we all have the opportunity to love our neighbors.”
“In a moment when increased enforcement fuels real fear, it is imperative that immigrants can engage safely with our public health and hospital systems,” said Matt Tice, Director of Immigrant Services at Jericho Road Community Health Center. “Their resilience is a key strength to the Western New York community, but no one should have to choose between safety and care. Protecting this access protects all of us.”
“Every New Yorker should be able to move freely without fear that a routine encounter with law enforcement--like a traffic stop--will result in being ripped away from your family and community. But for immigrant New Yorkers, everyday activities like driving to the grocery store or the doctor’s office is fraught with risk and anxiety. This report reveals the ways in which local law enforcement colluding with ICE in Western New York erodes public trust in local law enforcement, makes communities less safe, and raises civil liberties concerns. We call on our WNY state legislators to take urgent action now to pass New York for All (NY4All) to protect our local workers, businesses, families, and neighbors who are essential to the health of our communities and economy,” said Meghan Maloney de Zaldivar, VP of Advocacy, New York Immigration Coalition.