New York's even-year Election Law may be heard by U.S. Supreme Court

And Hochul welcomes White House border czar Tom Homan to the state Capitol.

Good afternoon — It’s Friday and Dentist’s Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• The U.S. Supreme Court will decide in the coming weeks if it will hear a challenge to New York’s law that moved most local elections to even years.

• Gov. Kathy Hochul met with Trump border czar Tom Homan at the state Capitol Friday to discuss federal immigration efforts and the state’s role.

• Here’s what’s coming up at the state Capitol next week.

• A Democrat in the state Legislature is proposing to limit the filing of lawsuits related to state constitutional amendments to courts in just four counties.

Names in today’s CapCon: Kathy Hochul, Tom Homan, Donald J. Trump, Ed Day, Gary R. Brown, Robert Jackson, Jeremy Cooney, Andrew Hevesi, Richard A. Ball

---

Hochul on Friday (Will Waldron/Times Union)

🗣️ Hochul welcomes border czar Tom Homan to the state Capitol

After meeting with Republicans in the state Assembly Thursday, President Donald J. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, returned to the Capitol to meet with Gov. Kathy Hochul Friday.

The pair met for just under an hour to discuss Hochul’s concerns, requests and views in terms of immigration policy out of the Trump administration, including her support for a pathway to citizenship for immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S.

She also repeated her support for federal action that would expedite work permits for those immigrants, who currently can’t receive them until six months after they’ve applied for asylum.

“We talked about work permits and how important that is to be able to allow them to work on our farms and hospitality and in health care and all the jobs that are going unfilled now,” Hochul said.

They also discussed the possibility of a surge in federal immigration enforcement and detention in New York. Hochul said that she made clear to Homan that she had no interest in an increase in either area.

That follows comments made by Trump during a meeting with governors last month at the White House, where Hochul said he committed against sending more federal immigration officers into New York without a request from her administration.

“That request will never occur so I reiterated that to him as a reminder that that is the state of affairs as a directive from the president,” Hochul said.

She also said the state opposed any new or expanded federal immigration detention centers in New York. Residents in Orange County had been concerned about the possibility of such a facility opening in the town of Chester.

They also discussed the recent death of Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind refugee who was found dead in Buffalo after federal immigration officers dropped him off at a coffee shop away from his home.