New York City residents could be fined up to $250,000 for “threatening to call ICE“, criticizing someone for having “limited English proficiency” and using offensive terms including “illegal alien“.

New York City’s Commission on Human Rights announced on Thursday that “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.”

“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) with a “discriminatory motive.”

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.

Fox reports: New York City’s Commission on Human Rights has a history of censoring speech it deems hatful or harmful. Composed of political appointees, the committee previously enacted a ban on employers and landlords using gender pronouns other than those preferred by employees and tenants. Violations of those regulations similarly carried a $250,000 fine if the offenders engaged in “willful, wanton, or malicious conduct.”

Thursday’s announcement came as Democrats hammered the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement raids and cautioned against using the term “illegal alien.”

“No one is an ‘alien,’” Rep. Ilham Omar, D-Minn., tweeted in June after Trump used the term.

But as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, pointed out, “illegal alien” is the term used under federal law. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions specifically directed his Justice Department not to use terms other than “illegal alien,” which he said was based in U.S. code.

“The word ‘undocumented’ is not based in US code and should not be used to describe someone’s illegal presence in the country,” he reportedly said in an agency-wide email.

Baxter Dmitry

Baxter Dmitry is a writer at Your News Wire. He covers politics, business and entertainment. Speaking truth to power since he learned to talk, Baxter has travelled in over 80 countries and won arguments in every single one. Live without fear.
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