New York City's Commission on Human Rights announced on Thursday that residents could face up to $250,000 in fines if they use terms such as "illegal alien ... with intent to demean, humiliate or harass a person."
"Hate has no place here," a tweet from the City of New York read. The city's announcement ticked off a list of offensive ways to address immigrants -- including threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), or harassing someone for their "limited English proficiency."
"Threatening to call ICE when motivated by discrimination, derogatory use of the term 'illegal alien,' and discrimination based on limited English proficiency are unlawful discriminatory treatment under the NYC Human Rights Law," the announcement read.
It clarified that calling ICE with a "discriminatory motive" was a violation. It was not immediately clear what New York City would consider a call to ICE lacking in "discriminatory motive."
"Fines of up to $250,000 can be assessed for each act of willful discrimination, and damages are available to complainants," the city said.
BREAKING:
New York City has made it illegal to threaten to call ICE based on a discriminatory motive or to tell someone "go back to your country." Hate has no place here. pic.twitter.com/8PaIozjQty
— City of New York (@nycgov) September 26, 2019