Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

NY State Sen. Pat Fahy joins multistate coalition calling for legislation to prohibit the masking of ICE agents

Federal agents in Lenox, Massachusetts on March 19th, 2025.
Submitted Anonymously to Josh Landes
/
WAMC
Federal agents in Lenox, Massachusetts on March 19th, 2025.

Legislation that to ban the use of masks by ICE agents is being pushed by a multi-state coalition of state legislators including New York's own Senator Pat Fahy.

Tuesday at a National Conference of State Legislators in Boston, Democratic New York Senator Pat Fahy of the 46th district joined colleagues from Pennsylvania and New York condemning the use of paramilitary tactics by ICE agents.

In mid-July Fahy introduced MELT - the Mandating End of Lawless Tactics Act previously introduced in the State Assembly by Tony Simone of the 75th district. MELT would ban the use of face coverings and plainclothes by ICE and other federal enforcement agents during civilian immigration actions conducted in New York State. Fahy dubbed the agents "masked militia."

"Masked agents who show up in unmarked vehicles, paramilitary type gear, unmarked and then with face and head coverings," said Fahy. "It goes against decades of work where the rule of law has prevailed and we have made decades of gains on transparency and accountability. What alarmed me even more when I decided to introduce the bill was seeing that we were going to see an escalation in these types of tactics, because over 75 billion dollars was allocated to ICE and incarceration funding through ICE efforts in the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' or what I refer to as the big beautiful betrayal."

Fahy says masked men scooping people off city streets undermines law enforcement at all levels and echoes authoritarian regimes, not the United States of America.

She notes that 21 attorneys general, led by Tish James in New York, have signed a letter to Congress highly critical of mass militia type paramilitary tactics used by ICE.

Fahy calls into question transparency and accountability about ICE, and also about the fate of so-called "Sanctuary Cities" under the Trump administration.

A justice department release on Tuesday identified New York as a "Sanctuary Jurisdiction" and listed Rochester and New York City as "Sanctuary Cities." Albany did not appear on the list.

"It's unbelievable the erraticness and outrageousness of the bullying tactics from the administration," Fahy said. "But we have seen where the Supreme Court has previously affirmed lower court rulings that upheld California's sanctuary state policy. And have declined to hear other cases related to immigration enforcement and sanctuary cities. Even the court has acted a little bit erratically lately, so time will tell. In the meantime, we want to call this out."

Fahy says the MELT bill has gained multiple co-sponsors.

 "In New York, as you know, we are out of session right now. We will not be back until January, unless extraordinary circumstances with the big, beautiful bill or betrayal bring us back. But at this point, we're just collecting co-sponsors. And we're sure something like this would end up in the courts, if we do, if and when we move it," said Fahy.

Tags
Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.