U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman has asked the New York Police Department to intervene when federal agents engage in unlawful conduct in the midst of heightening tensions over the U.S. government’s immigration crackdown.
Goldman, a former prosecutor, made the request after ProPublica reported it had found 170 cases where ICE agents detained U.S. citizens.
The NYPD “has an obligation to intervene and take appropriate action, including arrest, when federal immigration officers engage in conduct that is unlawful,” Goldman wrote Thursday in a letter to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“When they are acting outside the scope of their legal authority, they are no different than anyone else and their conduct is subject to New York criminal laws, including felony assault,” Goldman wrote.
The Trump administration has sent surges of federal agents — including from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — into cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, Chicago and Portland, Oregon. Trump has threatened that New York could be next.
A ICE officer who was captured on video pushing an Ecuadoran woman to the ground at an immigration court in New York City after her husband was detained was briefly relieved of his duties. Lawmakers, including Goldman, urged U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the ICE officer, who has returned to work.
The NYPD and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to MSNBC’s request for comment.
