As residents of Westchester County, we call upon the Board of Legislators to pass The Immigrant Protection Act (Act 9928),  which is aimed at protecting immigrants who call Westchester their home. Introduced by the board’s Democratic caucus in February, the Immigrant Protection Act prevents Westchester County from using any of its resources to assist in federal investigations based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity or national origin. The act also safeguards confidential information shared with county departments and prohibits officers from honoring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests that lack probable cause. The proposed legislation also ensures that services provided by the county will be available to all who are eligible, notwithstanding their immigration status, and protects Westchester County from liability due to false arrests and imprisonments. The act follows a model laid out by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman aimed at protecting immigrant communities. The model provisions clarify that local law enforcement can limit their participation in federal immigration enforcement activities in several ways: by refusing to enforce federal nonjudicial civil immigration warrants; by denying federal requests to hold uncharged individuals in custody more than 48 hours; by limiting access of federal agents to individuals currently in custody; and by limiting information-gathering that will be used exclusively for federal immigration enforcement.