“The New York Senate should utilize a special session to pass other legislation tamping down on policies and practices that are or could be used by ICE — such as the emerging threat of biometric surveillance technology in schools.”

A NYC Council rally in 2018, calling for ICE agents to be ejected from courthouses. (John McCarten/NYC Council)

President Donald Trump’s revocation of a directive barring ICE agents from raiding and surrounding sensitive spaces, like K-12 schools, is paralyzing New York communities with fear– chilling students’ attendance, preventing parents from meeting their kids in the pick-up line, and making deportation a regular occupational hazard for essential staff. It has been a disaster not only for our community health, but also for basic educational pedagogy.  

In response, New Yorkers are mobilizing to protect access to safe public education and keep ICE out of schools, coaching students and educators on how to refuse entry to ICE officers. And nationwide, some education advocates are responding to ICE on campus like active shooter lockdowns.

But these community protections can be easily bypassed or squashed. In the news and in our streets, we’ve seen the National Guard intervene to enforce deportations, and we’ve seen state and local law enforcement agencies, like the NYPD, collaborate with ICE.

Right now, New York lawmakers and advocates are taking action against these threats. New York State Senators Jabari Brisport and Julia Salazar have called on the New York State Legislature to reconvene in a special session to pass the New York for All Act—a crucial piece of legislation that would significantly limit collaboration between state and local law enforcement and ICE officials.

But the buck should not stop here. The New York Senate should utilize a special session to pass other legislation tamping down on policies and practices that are or could be used by ICE—such as the emerging threat of biometric surveillance technology in schools. This dystopian technology can become a digital backdoor for ICE agents to raid our schools’ hallways, cafeterias, and classrooms.

Many public and private schools across the country are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to slimy tech vendors selling AI powered software that processes footage captured by school surveillance cameras and collects the biometric features and movements of students, staff members, and visitors without their consent. 

Biometric systems won’t make schools safer. Instead, these technologies turn schools into data collection farms that may function as a backdoor for federal immigration enforcement. Biometric surveillance systems, including facial recognition technology (FRT), expose students—especially Black, Brown, and immigrant youth—to increased risk of law enforcement and ICE encounters.

These systems are prone to algorithmic bias, frequently misidentifying students of color and triggering unnecessary interactions with school security or police. Once a student is flagged by the tech, their personal information can be logged into law enforcement databases—without that student’s consent. From there, fusion centers may share these permanent digital records across agencies, including ICE. ICE can then use that information to pursue dubious warrants and gain access to school grounds, where they may detain students who were never even flagged by the system.

Like the NYPD, school resource officers and administrators may even utilize biometric surveillance in cooperation with ICE—allowing ICE to feed images of individuals they are seeking to deport into the school’s FRT database. Imagine being a non-citizen parent of an American student and not knowing whether coming to your child’s parent-teacher conference will result in your deportation and permanent separation from your child, whether because you attended a protest and became a target of the federal administration, or simply because the facial recognition algorithm misidentified you as a target. How are you supposed to support your child’s education? 

The NY For All Act would regulate school resource and NYPD officers’ disclosure of immigration status to ICE; however, it cannot account for the disclosure of status through data breaches. Schools that adopt biometric surveillance systems often outsource the storage of sensitive data—like students’ facial scans and fingerprints—to private vendors, creating serious and long-term cybersecurity risks.

Even when these vendors technically comply with student data privacy laws, they remain prime targets for data breaches. In one major breach in 2019, hackers accessed Suprema’s BioStar 2 platform and exposed 27.8 million records, including fingerprints and facial recognition data. Unlike a password, biometric information can’t be changed once it’s stolen—meaning that a child’s digital identity can be compromised for life.

These stolen biometrics are frequently sold to shady third-party data brokers and can end up in sprawling databases used by law enforcement, including ICE. Thus, when schools install these vulnerable technologies, they don’t just jeopardize student privacy; they potentially expose children to lifelong surveillance, law enforcement scrutiny, and immigration enforcement far beyond the classroom.

Currently, New York schools are allowed to use most forms of biometric surveillance on students, parents, and other visitors. While facial recognition is currently forbidden by a regulation, a new education commissioner could reinstate facial recognition in schools overnight.

If a special session is called, lawmakers could have the chance to demonstrate their commitment to fostering inclusive, safe educational environments and keep our schools free of dystopian surveillance tech that disproportionately harms vulnerable populations. A bill currently advancing through New York’s Assembly and Senate would not only secure the existing regulatory ban on FRT in schools, it would also expand the ban to other types of biometric surveillance tech currently installed in several New York schools.

In addition to passing the NY For All Act, this is a critical step towards safeguarding educational access for all students, regardless of immigration status. And with Trump-allied politicians like New York Mayor Eric Adams touting anti-immigration policies and swelling citywide spending on surveillance tech, it is our moral imperative as New Yorkers to push our state’s leaders to swiftly pass these and other bills dismantling ICE’s enforcement capabilities.

Sarah Roth is a legal intern at the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) and rising 2L at Northeastern University School of Law.

The post Opinion: Albany Can’t Wait Until January To Fight Trump and ICE appeared first on City Limits.

New York is among 20 states suing the Trump administration over the request, which advocates say will have a “chilling effect” on SNAP participation among eligible people in need. The mayor’s office said it’s reviewing its options, and said the mandate “will only worsen food insecurity in our city.”  

Baby formula on display inside a Key Food Supermarket on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx. (Adi Talwar/City Limits)

New York officials and anti-hunger advocates condemned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) request for states to share the personal information of food stamp recipients, and City Hall said it’s reviewing its options around the mandate, the deadline for which passed earlier this week.

In May, the USDA asked states to hand over data—such as names, dates of birth, personal addresses, and Social Security numbers—for all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients over the last five years by 30 July, or else risk losing federal funding.

Citing President Donald Trump’s March Executive Order, the USDA said the data will help it combat waste, fraud, and abuse.

SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, can be used to buy food and groceries at authorized retail stores. About 2.9 million low-income New Yorkers are currently enrolled in the program, or about 14 percent of the state’s population. Nearly a third are children. 

On July 23, USDA broadened the scope of requested information to include immigration status and information about household members. Although immigrants without legal status are ineligible for the program, mixed-status families may include children who are U.S. citizens and therefore qualify for the benefits.

Earlier this week, 20 state attorneys general—including New York’s—joined together to challenge the Trump administration’s demand in a lawsuit.

But according to the New York Attorney General’s Office, Wednesday’s deadline remained in place despite the legal action, so states and social service districts may still respond.

While SNAP is funded by the federal government, in New York, the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is in charge of managing and distributing the benefits at the state level. In New York City, the Human Resource Administration (HRA), which is part of the New York City Department of Social Services, oversees the program locally.

City Hall did not respond to questions about whether it would comply with the rule, but condemned it. “We’re reviewing our options,” a City Hall spokesman said. 

“Requiring states to provide private and sensitive information on SNAP applications to the federal government is unlawful and will discourage New Yorkers from applying for these essential services, and withdrawing federal funding for not complying with this mandate will only worsen food insecurity in our city,” the spokesperson added. “We urge the federal government to reverse this decision.”

At the state level, OTDA also did not provide details on how it would respond, stating that “OTDA does not comment on pending litigation,” an agency spokesperson said via email. A USDA spokesperson also declined to comment, citing the ongoing lawsuit. 

On July 23, OTDA’s Commissioner Barbara Guinn submitted a comment formally requesting that the USDA withdraw the proposed notice, alleging legal, operational, and ethical concerns with the creation and use of the USDA’s proposed National SNAP Information Database.

“Disclosure to such persons in violation of the privacy safeguards is inappropriate and unauthorized and does not serve any purpose related to the effective administration of the SNAP program,” Guinn wrote.

Food insecurity in New York grew to 4.7 percent of households from 2021 to 2023, while SNAP reliance has steadily increased after the pandemic, reaching 1.75 million households across the state in March 2025. 

Children account for 30 percent of New York’s SNAP enrollees; elderly individuals make up 21 percent and non-elderly disabled residents comprise 10 percent.

“We are deeply concerned about the data request, including its potential chilling effect on SNAP participation,” said Krista Hesdorfer, director of public affairs at Hunger Solutions New York, a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to alleviating hunger, which also assists eligible New Yorkers in accessing SNAP.

Advocates told City Limits that this request adds to the fear and chaos already being felt among immigrant communities as the Trump administration ramps up deportation efforts, including arrests of people showing up for mandated immigration court hearings, many of whom have no criminal history.

The policy will only lead to more reluctance to enroll in the SNAP program, even if people are eligible, advocates said.

“If you can find me one undocumented immigrant who somehow faked the paperwork to get SNAP, I can find you 10,000 out of thousands of documented, legal immigrants who are not applying for SNAP,” said Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America.

USDA argues the information-sharing request is meant to get rid of “data silos” to stop waste, fraud, and abuse of federal funds.

The Trump administration has been working on several paths to gather as much immigration-related information on people as possible, including creating a data-sharing system between ICE and the IRS, using Medicaid databases, and signing agreements between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Homeland Security.

“People are more afraid than ever to apply for the benefits to which they’re legally eligible,” Berg said. “People are even afraid to go to charitable soup kitchens and food pantries. There’s some people who are afraid to shop. They’re getting friends to shop for them. They’re literally putting themselves under essentially self-house arrest.”

While the USDA data request doesn’t mention immigration enforcement, hunger relief and immigrant advocates said the main goal is to help authorities find people who could be deported.

“As one of six children raised by a single mother who worked three jobs to put food on the table, Mayor Adams understands the importance of ensuring that families never have to go hungry,” a City Hall spokesman said.

“SNAP helps thousands of New Yorkers put food on their tables, and we are dedicated to ensuring everyone who needs these benefits can feel comfortable accessing them, regardless of their immigration status.”

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Daniel@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post Trump’s Demand for Food Stamp Participants’ Data Will Scare People From Needed Benefits, Officials & Advocates Say appeared first on City Limits.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Thursday announced that construction on a new $200 million ballroom will begin in September and be ready before President Donald Trump ‘s term ends in early 2029.

It will be the latest change introduced to what’s known as “The People’s House” since the Republican president returned to office in January. It also will be the first structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition of the Truman balcony in 1948.

Trump has substantially redecorated the Oval Office through the addition of golden flourishes and cherubs, presidential portraits and other items and installed massive flagpoles to fly the American flag on the north and south lawns. Workers are currently finishing a project to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with stone.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds up photos of the planned new White House ballroom during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Trump for months has been promising to build a ballroom, saying the White House doesn’t have space big enough to hold large events and scoffing at the notion of hosting heads of state and other guests in tents on the lawn as past administrations have done for state dinners attended by hundreds of guests.

The East Room, the largest room in the the White House, can accommodate about 200 people.

As he and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held talks in the ballroom of the hotel on his golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, on Sunday, Trump praised the space and said it was what he envisioned adding to the White House.

“The White House has wanted a ballroom for 150 years, but they never had a real estate person. You know, nobody, no president knew how to build a ballroom,” he said, harkening back to his early career in real estate and construction.

He said the Turnberry ballroom had been “quite the success” since it opened a short time ago. That ballroom “boasts a generous capacity of up to 500 guests,” according to the hotel’s website.

“I was just saying I could take this one, drop it right down there and it would be beautiful,” Trump said. “This is exactly what they’ve wanted.”

The White House is pictured before President Donald Trump departs, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

The 90,000-square-foot ballroom, announced on Thursday, will be built where the East Wing currently sits and will have a seated capacity of 650 people. The East Wing is home to several offices, including the first lady’s. Those offices will be temporarily relocated during construction while that wing of the building is modernized and renovated, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“Nothing will be torn down,” she said.

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White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said the president and his White House are “fully committed” to working with the appropriate organizations to preserve the mansion’s “special history.”

“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,” Wiles said in a statement.

Leavitt said at her briefing Thursday that Trump and other donors have committed to raising the approximately $200 million in construction costs. She did not name any of the other donors.

Renderings of what the future ballroom will look like were posted on the White House website.

Trump has chosen McCrery Architects, based in Washington, as lead architect on the project. The construction team will be led by Clark Construction. Engineering will be provided by AECOM.

Regan Smith continues to add medals to her collection.

The Lakeville product pulled in two more silvers at the World Championships on Thursday in Singapore.

Smith finished behind only Canada’s Summer McIntosh, who won the 200-meter butterfly by three full seconds with a time of 2 minutes, 1.99 seconds, just 14 hundredths off the world record pace.

“Going into tonight, my coach and I, our big goal was to break that world record. It’s what I’ve been training for,” McIntosh told reporters. “To see that I missed it by that little, and I know that I messed up the last 15 meters of my race… Overall, happy with the time and a (personal best), but I didn’t reach my goal tonight. Happy with the gold, happy with the win, just going to keep pushing forward.”

Australian Kaylee McKeown, who won the 100-meter backstroke earlier in the week, scratched the 50 meter – in which she’s the world record holder – from her program pre-meet, cracking the door open further for another winner in that event.

Katharine Berkoff seized the opportunity, setting a new American record with a 27.08 seconds to win the gold. That was just 18 hundredths clear of Smith

“I’m super excited,” Berkoff told reporters. “It’s been a goal of mine for a long time, and it’s great to finally achieve that.

Smith now has three silvers at the championships after also taking second in the 100-meter backstroke and completing a difficult double in Thursday’s session.

“Doubles are never easy, but I’m grateful that it was just a 50m backstroke, not 100m or 200m,” Smith told reporters. “And the ready room for the 50m is really fun. There are a lot of great girls in there and I love swimming with Katharine, so they gave me the energy to do what I needed to do. And I’m just excited to hear the anthem tonight.”

Individually, Smith will also compete in the 200-meter backstroke this week.