Governor Kathy Hochul today delivered remarks on her expanded proposal to protect New Yorkers against ICE.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

I just did want to give an update on an important issue in this year's Budget, and that's protecting New Yorkers from ICE overreach. And I want to share that we've made some substantial progress in the last few days with our legislative leaders, and we're building on a proposal that I first unveiled back on January 30, as we called it, the "Local Cops, Local Crimes Act." And the crux of that proposal is very simple, literally stating that local cops should be focused on local crimes: keeping our streets safe, responding to emergencies, going after gun traffickers and violent offenders, and protecting the neighborhoods they know best.

This is something that is supported by many in law enforcement who want to make sure that they can focus on the communities where the taxpayers are paying their salaries to do their jobs to protect them - not doing ICE's job. ICE is a very well-funded agency, I think upward of $85 billion more now, so ICE has the resources. So local law enforcement should not be doing ICE's job and not being weaponized against their own communities, not targeting law-abiding families who are working, and contributing and playing by the rules.

So, as stated back in January, this law would ban law enforcement agencies from entering into agreements with ICE, known as 287(g) Agreements. And it means when it comes to civil enforcement - I'm going to be very clear in my differentiation between civil and criminal enforcement - when it comes to civil enforcement, ICE won't be able to use our jails, won't be able to use our police technology funded by our taxpayers and will not be able to use our police personnel. I just want to be very clear on that and that is the case in many, many communities. But I just want to clarify this would be a statewide policy. So we're drawing a line in the sand.

We will always help federal law enforcement when it comes to tracking down, apprehending and assisting in the prosecution of individuals who are accused of violent crimes, serious crimes - always have, always will. There is no deviation in our policy on that. But we will not let them go in and terrorize our cities, go after our neighbors because of the color of their skin, as we saw unfold in many cities across the country. We don't want families to have parents afraid to send their children to school - as has been happening - or go to worship, and not go after neighbors just because of where they come from.

So after many, many lengthy conversations and a very good give and take with the legislative leaders, I'm looking to expand somewhat of what I proposed in January - that would be prohibiting civilian employees from using state, local or school resources, including employee time, for immigration enforcement activities. Once again, people involved in our schools and local governments - I mean, they have jobs to do. We have expectations upon them, and we want them to be doing their jobs full-time. I also want to add schools to the sensitive locations that I delineated in January, and this would also make sure that immigrant students can access education. There is a federal right for everyone to have a free public education - that has been established for many decades - but we're simply going to codify that in New York, and that's regardless of immigration status. [It] has been the policy, but also just want to put that into law. And again, adding to sensitive of locations, state or local owned and operated facilities like libraries and youth centers.

Now, we also want to make sure that law enforcement can only cooperate with immigration authorities when there's a criminal case, a criminal conviction - that is the precedent now, we deal with that now - or when they have probable cause to believe someone has committed a crime. They will not be able to coordinate when the charge is a non-criminal infraction, like jaywalking or being stopped for a traffic infraction. So that is what's been happening - non-serious offenses, broken taillights, someone jaywalking, someone pulled over for something unrelated to whether or not someone's safety is affected.

And so these are the conversations we're having right now with the Legislature on these. And they would not be allowed to coordinate if the only offense is the act of crossing the border. We're not constituting that as a criminal act for purposes of what we're talking about here in the State of New York, because many people came here under the last administration with legal status that was later withdrawn - temporary protective status, whether it was people who have already started the process for their asylum claims, people with work permits, people who are green card holders.

So, a lot of people crossed here, but the Trump administration's retroactive decisions to suspend their legal status now put them in jeopardy, and that is not the class of individuals that we want to have our local law enforcement or state employees assist - state or local employees assisting in in the apprehension if that's the only suspected offense. But also, I want to make sure that ICE agents can no longer hide behind a mask while violating innocent Americans and proposing a ban on face coverings for state, local and federal law enforcement officers. They'll no longer be able to conceal their identities while interacting with the public. They had not done it before. Other federal agencies like [the] FBI and DEA, they don't do it. Local law enforcement doesn't do it, so why should ICE have the ability to do something that we otherwise don't allow for other individuals in law enforcement? So if you're enforcing the law, you should not be hiding from that.

So we're going to have many more conversations going ahead. I just wanted to talk about a couple of the areas that I've been working on intensely in my positions, but clearly the conversations are ongoing, and I have a lot of respect for the leaders who are, I believe, conferencing some of this today. We'll listen to the feedback that comes from their members. We'll talk about that.

So, this is just an update. But I wanted to say that what we saw, as America watched in horror, whether it was the streets of Minneapolis or what happened in Buffalo, New York, when a refugee was literally abandoned by the federal agents responsible for his caregiving, his well-being. A man who was nearly blind and left alone without a cane in slippers - that is still something that is always going to shock the conscience, hopefully, of every person with a heart. And that is what I'm talking about here is protecting New Yorkers from that kind of ICE overreach and not let rogue federal agents attack our cities and our towns.

And so, I'll be providing more information on that. I'm joined by Sabrina Bierer, she's my Deputy Secretary for Public Safety. If there's any more details, but it's still evolving - I want to be clear on that.

Contact the Governor's Press Office