Committee on Criminal Justice meeting
March 5, 2026, 10:00 AM
Jointly with the Committee on Oversight and Investigations
The committee, meeting jointly with the Committee on Oversight and Investigations, held an oversight hearing on the Department of Investigation's reports on city agency compliance with sanctuary-related local laws.
What was discussed
- Co-chairs Krishnan and Brooks-Powers open the joint sanctuary-compliance hearing Council Member Shekar Krishnan, Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations, and Council Member Selvena N. Brooks-Powers, Chair of the Committee on Criminal Justice, convened a joint oversight hearing on the Department of Investigation's two 2025 reports finding NYPD and Department of
- Public Advocate Williams calls for stronger sanctuary enforcement Public Advocate Jumaane Williams gave an opening statement noting New York City is home to more than 3 million immigrants and urging the Council to ensure city agencies fully comply with sanctuary laws so immigrant New Yorkers can safely access government services.
- Defenders say DOI's recommendations fall short of true accountability Public defenders testified first that the DOI reports' recommendations are insufficient: Sarah Vendzules (Legal Aid Society) recounted a client, 'Byron,' deported despite the sanctuary laws; Rosa Cohen-Cruz (Bronx Defenders) said such violations make immigrant New Yorkers afraid to access city
- DOI Acting Commissioner Ryan presents the NYPD and DOC findings Acting DOI Commissioner Christopher Ryan testified on the department's two 2025 reports examining NYPD and DOC compliance with the sanctuary laws, explaining that both agencies had protocols in place but the failure was disseminating them to frontline staff, and that NYPD accepted all
- Could there be more undiscovered sanctuary-law violations? Chair Krishnan pressed whether DOI's targeted reviews captured every violation. Acting Commissioner Ryan acknowledged the investigations were limited—reviewing a handful of email accounts and finding one correction officer who improperly assisted federal agents—and said it is 'very likely' other
- Does a Fusion Center on Rikers violate the city's sanctuary laws? Chair Brooks-Powers pressed on technological safeguards, audits, the unregulated 'downstream' federal use of lawfully shared information, and the DHS-linked Fusion Center on Rikers Island. Acting Commissioner Ryan said DOI examined the human element, not the systems, that secondary federal use of
- Carr challenges the value of shielding criminal defendants from ICE Minority Leader David M. Carr argued the city should hand people who come into contact with the criminal-justice system over to ICE and questioned the virtue of declining civil-detainer requests. Acting Commissioner Ryan said that is a policy question for the Council and that he only assessed
- Were other agencies, private contracts, or the Canal Street raid investigated? Council Members Gale A. Brewer and Susan Zhuang asked whether DOI looked at private ICE contracts, other city agencies, or specific incidents like the November Canal Street raid where journalists said NYPD tipped off ICE. Acting Commissioner Ryan said the investigations were tailored to NYPD and DOC
- DOC General Counsel Conroy testifies on the department's response James Conroy, Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters and General Counsel at the Department of Correction, testified on DOC's policies governing interactions with federal immigration authorities and its response to the DOI report, saying the department reissued its policy by teletype in May 2025 and
- Why did DOC decline a department-wide audit? Chairs Krishnan and Brooks-Powers pressed on DOC's refusal of DOI's recommended agency-wide audit. Conroy said it was about practicality, not unwillingness: until recently the vast majority of DOC's roughly 5,800 officers had no department email, officers communicate largely verbally, and there is
- How does DOC interpret the detainer and notification limits of 9-131? Chair Krishnan and Conroy debated Administrative Code 9-131, with Krishnan questioning DOC's longstanding policy of communicating release dates under subdivision H for people with qualifying convictions or on the terrorist watch list. Conroy said DOC never detains people past their release time and
- How will training and supervision prevent the Concepcion and Villanueva transfers from recurring? Council Members Krishnan, Brooks-Powers, and Alexa Avilés pressed on the inadvertent transfers of Concepcion and Villanueva to ICE, which were not reported to MOIA. Conroy said DOC has only three officers on federal task forces (two ATF, one U.S. Marshals), that the violations stemmed from
- Advocates warn of surveillance, the Fusion Center, and courthouse arrests A second public panel urged stronger protections: Jason Taper and Nour Soubani (Surveillance Technology Oversight Project) described the Rikers Fusion Center and the NYPD Domain Awareness System feeding ICE; Benjamin Remy (NYLAG) described daily ICE arrests at immigration courthouses leaving people
Agenda
1 item
- T2026-1337 Oversight - The Department of Investigation’s Reports on Agency Compliance with Sanctuary-related Local Laws. Hearing Held by Committee