A new NYC law says it’s now illegal to call someone an “illegal alien” or threaten to report them to ICE, if motivated by hatred.
A document shared on the nyc.gov reads that, “It is illegal for a person’s employer, coworkers, or housing provider such as landlords to use derogatory or offensive terms to intimidate, humiliate, or degrade people, including by using the term “illegal alien,” where its use is intended to demean, humiliate, or offend another person.”
Additionally, it reads, “It is illegal for employers to pay workers lower wages or no wages or threaten to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to harass, scare, or intimidate workers because of their immigration status.”
The City of New York shared news of this on Twitter, “BREAKING: New York City has made it illegal to threaten to call ICE based on a discriminatory motive or to tell someone “go back to your country.” Hate has no place here.”
BREAKING:
New York City has made it illegal to threaten to call ICE based on a discriminatory motive or to tell someone “go back to your country.” Hate has no place here. pic.twitter.com/8PaIozjQty— City of New York (@nycgov) September 26, 2019
It was reported that those who violate this new law can be fined up to $250,000 per offense. The City Hall’s Commission on Human Right released a 29- page directive about the new law.
The document reads, “Alien’ — used in many laws to refer to a ‘noncitizen’ person — is a term that may carry negative connotations and dehumanize immigrants, marking them as ‘other.”
And another section of the memo reads, “The use of certain language, including ‘illegal alien’ and ‘illegals,’ with the intent to demean, humiliate, or offend a person or persons constitutes discrimination.”
The document goes on to explain hypothetical situations this might occur in and what to do.
At the moment, four ongoing cases involve discrimination based on folks threatening to call to ICE in order to intimidate, harass, and threaten victims.
Carmelyn Malalis, the agency’s commissioner, told the New York Post that, “In the face of increasingly hostile national rhetoric, we will do everything in our power to make sure our treasured immigrant communities are able to live with dignity and respect, free of harassment and bias.”
News of this comes within days of a recent ICE raid across the tri-state area. The New York Post reported that the ICE arrested 82 within the state of New York alone.
