New York's Green Light Law limits state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and shields DMV records, applying uniformly to every county, city, town, and village in the state.
Vehicle and Traffic Law § 201, enacted by the Driver's License Access and Privacy Act of 2019, prohibits the Department of Motor Vehicles from sharing records with any agency that primarily enforces immigration law unless the requester provides a judicial warrant or court order. Personal information collected for driver's licenses cannot be released to ICE or CBP for civil immigration enforcement. Executive Order 170 directs state agencies and officers not to inquire about immigration status unless required by law and not to disclose status information except as required. While New York does not have a single sanctuary statute, these provisions and case law set a statewide floor: localities may go further but cannot compel cooperation with civil ICE detainers. State courthouses are also protected under the Protect Our Courts Act, which bars civil arrests in or near courthouses without a judicial warrant.
DMV employees who knowingly disclose protected records to immigration authorities without a judicial warrant face misdemeanor liability and disciplinary action; civil arrests at courthouses can be challenged and quashed under the Protect Our Courts Act.
Erie County, NY
Erie County itself does not regulate parking on town/village streets, but the Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation & Forestry enforces parking rules o...
Erie County, NY
Erie County has no breed-specific dog ban, and neither county nor any municipality within it may adopt one. New York Agriculture & Markets Law §107(5) expres...
Erie County, NY
Erie County does not adopt a single county-wide leash ordinance; dog control is set by each town or city under New York Agriculture & Markets Law Article 7. ...
Clarence, NY
Clarence Town Code prohibits keeping chickens in the Residential Single-Family (R-SF) zone unless the parcel is at least 5 acres or is located in the Agricul...
Erie County, NY
Erie County Local Law 2-2025, "The Sky Lantern Prohibition Act," bans the sale, use, release, and dispatch of sky lanterns county-wide. The law was adopted b...
Erie County, NY
Erie County has no separate county-level open-burning ordinance; outdoor burning across all of Erie County is governed by New York State regulation 6 NYCRR P...
Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Erie County.
See how Clarence's sanctuary policy preemption rules stack up against other locations.
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