State and Local Policy

New York State Legislature Passes Marijuana Reform Bill Including Positive Changes for Immigrant New Yorkers

Today, the New York legislature reversed years of harmful criminalization by passing the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, which creates a legal recreational marijuana market in New York and expands the medical marijuana program. For years, New York marijuana convictions have caused immeasurable harm to immigrant communities across New York State. Marijuana prohibition has fueled the disproportionate arrest rate of … Read more »

Broken Windows Policing

The widespread criminalization of a wide range of activities through NYPD’s broken windows or quality-of-life policing practices has steadily driven up rates of arrests for violations and misdemeanors in New York City since the 1980s. Because the immigration system is extremely unforgiving, for non-citizens even a violation or misdemeanor can lead to detention and deportation. To help defend against these consequences and protect … Read more »

Strategic Research Initiatives

In this era of mass deportation, where immigrants with convictions have been singled out by DHS as a primary target for deportation, IDP works to develop and expand strategies to identify opportunities to expand rights within the criminal legal system. Working in close collaboration with allies, IDP researches multiple points of intervention — including local, state, and federal policy, as well … Read more »

Ending ICE/Police Entanglement: From Street Encounter to Custody

Background At the Street Encounter: Datasharing At Arrest: Fingerprint Data Sent to ICE In Custody: Training and Supporting Defenders In City Custody: Ending Collaboration Between ICE and Police and Jails In the Community: Ending ICE Arrests at the Home and Beyond Background The U.S. government today detains and deports noncitizens at historically unprecedented levels, and during the Obama administration, immigrants … Read more »

How ICE Interacts with the Criminal Legal System

The U.S. today detains and deports noncitizens at historically unprecedented levels, and immigrants with criminal convictions are one of the key targets for mass deportation. Harsh immigration laws passed in 1996 combined with a political climate that brands immigrants with convictions as a threat to public safety puts millions at risk of detention and deportation. IDP works to distangle immigration and the … Read more »