New York’s Democrat-controlled legislature will soon vote on a bill that would broaden the definition of extortion to include threats of reporting someone to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The bill is being proposed by Elmont Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages who says constituents have called her office saying that they are being blackmailed by abusive husbands, landlords wanting additional rent, and employers taking advantage of employees.
“And threaten to call ICE or threaten that they are going to get deported,” she says. “This bill would provide protections, saying that you can’t use this point of leverage”
The bill was first introduced last year, but did not make it out of committee in the then-Republican-controlled Senate. Bay Shore Senator Phil Boyle was one of three votes that kept it from reaching the floor.
