S 8539: Establishes the New York state ICE-free zones act to prohibit the use of state or municipal property for civil immigration enforcement activity; requires signage to be posted at the entrance to state or municipal property or other areas that are accessible to the public stating that civil immigration enforcement activity is not allowed; provides an exception that civil immigration activity may be conducted on such property pursuant to a valid judicial warrant specifying that such activity may be conducted on such property for a specified purpose.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8539 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE October 22, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the use of state or municipal property for civil immigration enforcement activity and providing protections for persons on such property The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "New York state ICE-free zones act". 3 § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new subdivision 170-k to 4 read as follows: 5 § 170-k. Civil immigration enforcement activity on state or municipal 6 property. 1. Definitions. As used in this section: 7 (a) "State or municipal property" means any real property or facility 8 owned, leased, controlled, or managed by the state or any municipal 9 subdivision thereof or by any department, bureau, board, commission, 10 authority or any other agency or instrumentality of the state or any 11 municipal subdivision thereof. 12 (b) "Civil immigration enforcement activity" means detention, arrest, 13 questioning, processing, transportation, or surveillance conducted by 14 United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement or any federal officer 15 or employee who is responsible for enforcement of the federal Immi- 16 gration and Nationality Act, in connection with civil removal 17 proceedings; provided, however, that "civil immigration enforcement 18 activity" does not include any such action conducted with a valid judi- 19 cial warrant. 20 (c) "Immigration enforcement officer" means any federal officer or 21 employee who is responsible for enforcement of the federal Immigration 22 and Nationality Act, in connection with civil removal proceedings, and 23 shall include any employee of the United States Immigration and Customs 24 Enforcement. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13944-01-5 
 S. 8539 2 1 (d) "Judicial warrant" means a warrant or order that is signed by a 2 United States district judge or federal magistrate judge and that demon- 3 strates probable cause to believe an individual has committed a crime or 4 offense. 5 (e) "Designated signage" means signage, posted in conspicuous 6 locations, stating that property may not be used for civil immigration 7 enforcement activity. 8 (f) "Responsible official" means the person or office, or the designee 9 of such person or office, with operational responsibility for the state 10 or municipal property. "Responsible official" shall include, but not be 11 limited to, facility managers and superintendents of such property. 12 2. No state or municipal property may be used, occupied, leased, 13 loaned, or otherwise made available, whether temporarily or permanently, 14 for civil immigration enforcement activity unless such civil immigration 15 enforcement activity is conducted pursuant to a valid judicial warrant 16 which specifies that such activity may be conducted at a particular 17 property for a specified civil immigration enforcement activity. 18 3. (a) Within thirty days after the effective date of this section, 19 the responsible official of each state or municipal property shall 20 provide designated signage at entrances of such property or near staging 21 areas, parking lots, or other areas of such property that are accessible 22 to the public or federal personnel stating that such property is public- 23 ly owned and may not be used for civil immigration enforcement activity 24 by immigration enforcement officers without a valid judicial warrant. 25 (b) In addition to the signage required pursuant to paragraph (a) of 26 this subdivision, the responsible official may also place physical 27 barriers as appropriate to restrict access to parts of state or munici- 28 pal property that are not intended for public access; provided, however, 29 that such physical barriers shall not unreasonably interfere with the 30 normal public use of such state or municipal property. 31 4. No person present on state or municipal property shall be subject 32 to questioning, detention, or arrest by an immigration enforcement offi- 33 cer unless the immigration enforcement officer presents a valid judicial 34 warrant applicable to such person or location. 35 5. Any responsible official who becomes aware of an attempted or actu- 36 al violation of subdivision four of this section shall notify the attor- 37 ney general who may investigate and bring an action in the state supreme 38 court and may recover any reasonable costs incurred as a result of 39 investigation. 40 6. This section is intended to regulate the use of state or municipal 41 property and shall not be construed to regulate the conduct of federal 42 agencies in federal territories. 43 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 44 have become a law.