The Rochester City Council has passed a new, expanded sanctuary city law, adding protections for LGBTQ residents and creating clear disciplinary measures for employees who violate the policy.
The updated bill was first sent for legal review in March, and at the time was deemed illegal due to its disciplinary provisions violating public employee law. Since then, the City Council substantially amended the measure and consulted with the New York Civil Liberties Union on its language.
“We're doing this because it matters,” Council President Miguel Meléndez said. “It is important for our community to know where their elected leaders stand. It is important because we are upholding the Constitution of the United States and ensuring our local resources are not commandeered. It is important because families in our community are hurting and being torn apart.”
The new law forbids city employees or contractors from denying services based on immigration status, bars Rochester Police Department officers from questioning or arresting people solely based on immigration status, and prohibits officers from engaging in enforcement actions that are strictly immigration-related.
Rochester has been a sanctuary city since 1986, when its original policy was adopted. The policy was last updated in 2017.
The law also includes broad protections for LGBTQ residents, including protection from discrimination in sports based on gender identity, access to public services and healthcare, and protection against discrimination by local businesses.
The original bill was drafted in collaboration with Rochester-based LGBTQ advocacy groups.
For example, a business cannot deny access to a restroom or locker room that matches a person’s gender identity, restrict the use of a public bathroom to one gender, deny access to reproductive healthcare, or refuse the use of a facility for a marriage ceremony based on the couple’s gender identities.
Many of those provisions are in line with the Equal Rights Amendment of the New York State Constitution, which was approved in a referendum vote in November 2024.
The new law labels any violation as “unlawful” and gives the city administration the power to discipline violators, up to removal.
The original version of the bill had given that power to the Council itself, which city attorneys said likely violated state civil service law. Meléndez said he is confident that the bill passed Tuesday will withstand legal scrutiny.
“We certainly spent the energy to make sure that this was in line with current city policy in terms of discipline and those kind of things,” Meléndez said. “So all of that is still under the purview of the administration.”
The move to pass an updated Sanctuary City bill comes at a time of heightened tension over sanctuary policies nationwide. The administration, including Meléndez and Mayor Malik Evans, are currently being sued by the administration of President Donald Trump over its existing sanctuary policy. That case stems from a high-profile incident in March, in which 10 Rochester police officers aided federal immigration in arresting three men from Guatemala. All officers were briefly taken off the street to receive additional training.
Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a letter to 32 sanctuary cities across the country last week, including Rochester, warning them to discontinue their policies and accusing them of violating federal law. She requested a response by Aug. 19.
Corporation Counsel Patrick Beath, the city’s top lawyer, sent back a letter last week rejecting Bondi’s arguments.
“The city intends to continue to fully comply with federal law while vigorously preserving its local autonomy and rights under the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” Beath wrote.
Councilmember Stanley Martin was an original sponsor of the bill, alongside Councilmembers Kim Smith and Mary Lupien. She said she spent the past few months researching sanctuary city laws and speaking with people behind the city’s original sanctuary ordinance, passed in 1986.
“I feel moved, I feel hopeful,” Martin said. “And the biggest thing I feel is, I want people to know that we as a city, care about immigrants. We care about the LGBT community, the communities that have historically been under attack.
I'm going to sleep, hoping that people feel more supported today than they did before this was passed,” she continued.
