New York Governor Andrew Cuomo threatened to sue the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if it will not stop conducting illegal arrests in the state.

During a press conference on Thursday, Gov. Cuomo raised serious concerns about ICE’s operations across the state of New York. The governor noted that the increasing rate of ICE arrests and its tactics in conducting its operations are alarming.

According to Gov. Cuomo, they have serious concerns that the ICE operations “violate the Constitutional rights” of Americans and undocumented immigrants. The way the agency carries out its arrests “endangers public safety.”

The governor noted that in recent weeks, they’ve seen “harshness” in the behavior of ICE agents. It is becoming a major problem in farms across New York.

Farm owner said ICE agents showed no respect to the rule of law

In fact, John Collins, the owner of a dairy farm, which was raided by ICE, spoke during the press conference. Collins said ICE agents “aggressively” arrested his worker in front of his children. He added that “the federal authorities had no reason” to take the worker from the farm and his family.

Furthermore, Collins said he is “deeply concerned with the outrage and aggressive tactics used by ICE.” He said the officers “showed no respect” for him, his employees or the rule of law.

Moreover, Collins noted that ICE agents raided his farm without a warrant and did not identify themselves. When he tried to document the incident using his cellphone, they grabbed it, throw it to the side, and handcuffed him.  He described the ICE’s raid at his farm as “reckless and unnecessary.”

According to Collins, he joined Gov. Cuomo to speak out against ICE because he considers the raids “unjust.”

Gov. Cuomo said incident at the dairy farm is an example of an unconstitutional activity by ICE. He pointed out that the agency violated Collins’ constitutional rights when they entered his farm without a valid warrant and handcuffed him. The agency also endangered the public safety by not informing local and state law enforcement about its operation in the farm.

“We believe ICE is violating the law and endangering public safety in all of those instances. We’ll gonna put them on notice today. If they continue, the state will sue them. The state has the responsibility for upholding the constitutional rights of the people who live in New York. As governor, my job is to protect New Yorkers. I am going to do that and we will take action because we believe ICE is acting beyond the law,” said Gov. Cuomo.

Gov. Cuomo issued cease-and-desist letter to ICE

Yesterday, the governor sent a cease-and-desist letter to ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan.

In his letter, Gov. Cuomo told Homan that the “pattern of conduct and blatant constitutional violations committed by both agents in the field and regional leadership actually reflect a readiness to sink to lawlessness.”

The governor emphasized that the agency is targeting immigrants critical to its practices and it is not notifying local and state authorities when conducting enforcement actions.

Gov. Cuomo asked Homan to immediately stop the agency’s pattern of conduct and to “follow the clear constitutional requirements attendant to searches and arrests.”  If the agency fails to do so, his administration “will pursue all legal recourse… to protect the rights and safety of all New Yorkers.”

In response, Homan said, “The Governor's comments were inaccurate and an insult to ICE's sworn law enforcement officers who conduct their lawful mission professionally and with integrity,” Homan said.

In addition, Homan said “ICE cannot and will not cease and desist from fulfilling our agency’s congressionally mandated mission of enforcing federal law.”