What's holding up the immigrant protections package in Albany

And Mamdani gets support for an extension of mayoral control of New York City schools.

Good afternoon — It’s Tuesday and Agriculture Day.

In today’s CapCon:

• A major sticking point remains over a package of immigrant protection bills being negotiated between Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature.

• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is seeking a four-year extension of mayoral control of city schools. His effort got a big boost Tuesday.

• New Bills of Note: A top lawmaker is seeking to revive New York’s tax credit for the production of biofuels. Another wants stronger oversight of health programs.

• Bills on the Move: A bill that would allow the state to investigate work-related fatalities moved in the state Senate Tuesday.

Names in today’s CapCon: Cassandra Bocanegra, Kathy Hochul, Julia Salazar, Claire Valdez, Pat Fahy, Zohran Mamdani, Peter Harckham, Gustavo Rivera, Emerita Torres, Kristen Gonzalez, Shelley Mayer, Harry Bronson

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Lawmakers with advocates outside the state Capitol Tuesday. (Dan Clark/Times Union)

🗣️ Immigrant protections package stalls over federal cooperation questions

When the state Legislature returned to Albany in January for the new legislative session, immigrant advocates expected swift action on new protections for noncitizens.

It was on the first day of this year’s legislative session that Renée Good was killed by an officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis. Advocates expected that to be enough for immediate action in New York.

But that didn’t happen. Immigrant advocates were told by Democrats in the state Legislature to be patient while they convinced their colleagues to come to a compromise.

Several bills were already on the table, including New York For All. That bill would prohibit state and local government agencies from assisting the federal government with civil immigration enforcement.

Then, at the end of February, a refugee in Buffalo was found dead after he was dropped off at a coffee shop miles from his home by federal immigration officers. The refugee, Nural Amin Shah Alam, was nearly blind.

Advocates again called on lawmakers to approve legislation that would protect immigrants from being detained by federal officers and add a layer of accountability for those actions. They were told it was only a matter of time before that happened.

“I feel really disappointed,” said Cassandra Bocanegra, senior manager for organizing and strategy in the Finger Lakes region for the New York Immigration Coalition. “It feels like they’re not prioritizing this very real solution to a very real problem.”

But they’ll have to continue to wait, according to sources in the state Legislature. Lawmakers had sought to have legislation ready for a vote this week. That’s no longer expected to happen.