NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police are investigating whether the department violated policy by sharing reports with federal immigration authorities, including internal records of the arrest of Palestinian women in protests.
The probe continues Report by Associated Press They are seeking to expel New Jersey Palestinian resident Lekaa Cordia as part of their cooperation with the administration of President Donald Trump. Expanding non-citizen crackdowns Those who participated in protests against the war in Gaza.
Reports shared by police with the federal government included Cordia’s name, address, birthday and a two-sentence summary of NYPD officers’ arrests for her protest outside Columbia University last spring.
According to legal experts, the charges were dismissed – for disorderly conduct – and the lawsuit was sealed.
“We are currently considering summoning information related to the sealed arrest,” city police commissioner Jessica Tish said Tuesday in response to a question from the Associated Press. “This is under internal investigation and review.”
Cordia, a 32-year-old waitress from Patterson, New Jersey, was taken into custody during check-in with an immigration officer on March 13, and was later sent to the Texas immigration prison where she remains. US Department of Homeland Security Announced her arrest The next day, I cited her role in the expired visa and “Prohama Protest.”
A four-page NYPD report on Cordia was generated on the same day and is currently being used as evidence by the federal government to deport her.
“We still don’t know how she became the focus of the Department of Homeland Security,” said Arthur, Cordia’s lawyer. “If they get information from the NYPD about sealed quotes that have been dismissed in the interest of justice, it will be very unsettling.”
Under Urban Law, police are generally prohibited from supporting federal authorities in civil immigration enforcement, with exceptions to criminal investigations.
Tish said the department received requests from the Homeland Security Investigation, a division of U.S. immigration customs enforcement, as part of the criminal investigation into Cordia.
“Members said they wanted information about this person related to the money laundering investigation. It was pretty standard for us, so the information was provided,” Tish said. “It all went through the steps.”
Cordia’s lawyer said he was unaware of any investigations related to money laundering. He said she was born in Jerusalem, raised in the West Bank, and arrived in New Jersey in 2016 to live with her mother, a US citizen.
In the Cordia immigration case, the federal government refers to both previous arrests in Colombia and the $1,000 payments it made to a relative on the West Bank as evidence of potential danger, the lawyer said.
“They continue to hint and allud to some kind of evil behavior by Ms. Kordia in terms of sending money to Palestinian families,” Aga said. “There’s nothing there. Sending money home to relatives is something immigrants do in this country.”
A DHS spokesperson said Cordia was detained for immigration violations but would not say whether she was facing a criminal investigation.
In an email statement, a New York City Council spokesman called the lack of explanation from the police commissioner “trouble.”
“People in our cities should be able to trust that the mayoral administration will comply with local laws and not hand over their information without legal justification by ICE,” the statement continued.
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