ALBANY – Gov. Kathy Hochul took a direct hit at her GOP election opponent Bruce Blakeman Friday as she unveiled new anti-ICE proposals, including one to end existing agreements between local and federal law enforcement.
Hochul also bizarrely announced that she would propose adding homes to the list of “sensitive locations” — like schools and houses of worship — that she wants to bar US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from, though it’s already illegal for authorities to enter private property without a warrant.
“We are called to act in this moment of tyranny,” Hochul said during a Manhattan press conference, flanked by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and several district attorneys from across the state.
Heeding rallying cries from the left to resist President Trump’s immigration crackdown, Hochul, who is up for re-election this year, made her most forceful call yet to push back against ICE — while aiming squarely at Nassau County, whose executive, Blakeman, is running against her.
The Democratic governor said she wants to stop local governments from signing agreements allowing ICE to use their personnel and facilities for enforcement actions and to house detainees.
Only a handful of counties across the state, including Nassau, have such agreements currently.
“Governor Hochul is the most pro-criminal governor in the United States who has a callous disregard for the safety of our communities and victims of crime,” Blakeman told The Post in a statement after her announcement.
“When I am governor I will veto that legislation,” he said.
Hochul – who is trying to claim the move won’t make it harder for authorities to chase down criminal migrants – denied the move had anything to do with her re-election bid.
“It has nothing to do with who’s running for office. This is the right thing to do in this moment,” she said.
Prior to the killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Hochul announced proposals that would allow New Yorkers to sue ICE agents and also to prevent them from accessing “sensitive locations” including hospitals, schools and houses of worship.
She took it several steps further Friday, proposing adding peoples’ homes to that list of “sensitive locations.”
“This is about a rogue federal agency that’s going to unleashed (sic) on American streets for the sole purpose of creating chaos, carnage and fear,” she said — calling federal agents “poorly trained paramilitary forces.”