New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says that Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs to stop their raids in New York courthouses.
Schneiderman, along with acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, condemned the 60 ICE raids made in New York courts since the beginning of the year.
The number is a major increase from the 11 made in 2016 and the 14 made in 2015.
Schneiderman says that the arrests prevent witnesses from coming forward and create a threat to public safety.
Gonzalez agrees that the arrests are counterproductive. “We need to make sure that we can continue to get the trust and the cooperation of the victims that we serve and that we must make sure the victims can actually get justice.”
ICE arrested 114 people in the New York metro area in an 11-day sweep last month. Two of those arrested were from Long Island.