Gov. Kathy Hochul admitted she once harassed a federal immigration agent for “trying to terrorize” New Yorkers — as she teased an anti-ICE proposal in the wake of the deadly Minnesota shooting.
The Democrat briefly detailed her confrontation with the ICE agent in an interview on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday, saying the exchange unfolded outside 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan last year.
“Why do you think you are more than anybody else? Come on, you’re just trying to terrorize people,” the governor said she told the federal officer during the exchange.
Hochul didn’t elaborate further on the apparent ICE run-in.
She copped to the encounter as she indicated she would be including a proposal in her 2026 State of the State agenda, which will be unveiled next week, that’ll give New Yorkers “a way to get recourse” if they are negatively impacted by ICE agents’ actions.
The stance marks a major pivot for Hochul, who, since President Trump’s re-election, has repeatedly tried to suggest the Empire State will work with the feds on his immigration crackdown.
Hochul has largely managed to dodge a definitive stance but has previously indicated she supports cooperation with federal agencies when it comes to criminal migrants.
She claimed early last year to have a “whole list” of crimes that would spur the state to hand over migrants to ICE, following criticism that New York’s sanctuary state policies were giving cover to accused criminals in the country illegally.
“We’ll be announcing this probably before the end of the year or early next year,” Hochul said at the time.
“I think the public has a right to know. Law enforcement needs to know where I’m coming from,” she continued.
“Washington needs to know where we’re going to be helpful, what we’re going to do, and I’ll be very clear on this so everyone has no doubt in their mind what the situation will look like in the state of New York.”
When ICE started conducting its first high-profile operations in the Big Apple under Trump’s crackdown last year, Hochul signaled then that she was supportive of the feds going after migrants who have committed crimes.
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