There is little debate among members of the state Assembly of the evils of discrimination.

The debate starts over just how to achieve the American ideal of treating everyone equally.

Earlier this week, Republicans and Democrats in the Assembly debated A.6328, which would amend the state’s Human Rights Law to include discrimination on the basis of citizenship or immigration status on the list of civil and criminal offenses under the Human Rights Law that the state Attorney General is authorized to prosecute.

The bill passed the Assembly by a 100-46 vote with Assemblymen Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, voting against. Companion legislation has been introduced in the state Senate but it has not yet moved out of committee.

Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, D-Corona, said she has heard complaints of people being threatened over their immigration status, having wages stolen and then having immigration status held over them in claims before the state Labor Department and landlords trying to use immigration status as leverage to force immigrants to move out of their apartments.

“Despite my colleague’s incorrect assessment of this bill, we are not trying to change federal law in spite of how much I would like to,” Cruz said on the Assembly floor. “We don’t have the power to do that. This bill is not going to change who an employer can legally hire or cannot, what kind of documents you have to actually show an employer when you go apply. It’s not going to change when you go to college what kind of documents the university gets to ask for or how an A1 or any of those visas comes into play. We’re not changing any of that. What we are saying is if you are an employer and you have a worker who is a U.S. citizen and you desire to hire someone who is an undocumented person, you have to treat them both the same. You are not allowed to use the person’s status to treat them any different, to threaten their existence, to stop them from filing a claim against you with the Department of Labor. That’s what we’re saying. We’re saying you have to treat people the same.”

Goodell said he appreciates the legislation in spirit, but questions how it can be used practically. The way the bill is phrased, Goodell said, it could result in a lawsuit if the New York National Guard doesn’t admit someone who is an illegal immigrant or a bank would be required to give a long-term loan to someone who is in the country on a short-term visa.

The Jamestown Republican also said the bill’s wording could make symbolic protests against actions like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or South African apartheid a violation of state law because, technically, protesting the unfavorable actions of other governments could be seen as based on race or nationality.

“So I applaud the desire of the sponsor to say that if you’re here legally or illegally, we ought to treat you first and foremost as a human being,” Goodell said. “I agree with that concept. I started my career doing immigration work. … And every day, all day long, all I did was try to help immigrants get into the U.S. legally … I applaud the concept. But this bill goes way too far.”

Jeffrion Aubry, D-Corona and Assembly speaker pro tem, moved from the dais onto the Assembly floor so he could speak on the legislation. His comments invoked America’s lengthy history with immigration and the hardships faced by African-Americans and German, Italian and Irish immigrants and a desire to see New York avoid the mistakes of the past.

“Go back and talk to your grandfathers or your long relatives, you’ll know the things that happened to them, that they were abused by the people that were here,” Aubry said. “I don’t know why that happens. We just know in our history, and if you search your family history you’ll find that. It wasn’t right then. It isn’t right now. We are an emerging country. We’re a country where many people come because of what we stand for. Shall we abuse them when they come? Shall we do things we wouldn’t want done to my grandparents, your grandparents?”

Assemblyman Michael Lawler, R-Pearl River, approached the issue from a different perspective. Lawler’s wife is an immigrant who received her green card in 2020. He agreed with Aubry’s assessment that immigrants of different nationalities and religious faiths were discriminated against in the past but cast an eye toward federal immigration reform to solve some of the problems being faced in New York state.

“I do have concern with respect to the continued influx of undocumented immigrants without a meaningful change to the system to ensure that everyone who wants to come here can do so legally,” Lawler said in remarks that ended in applause from his fellow Assembly members. “I think that needs to be fixed. I think our border crisis needs to be fixed. It is wrong. It is a failure of government. But I also believe strongly on a human level we cannot discriminate. I think it is critical in a state and a country that was built on the backs of immigrants that we welcome immigrants to this country. We want them to thrive. We want them to succeed. We are better for it it. We want them to come here legally and it needs to be fixed. I will support this bill because I do not want anyone discriminated against, but we have to fix the system at a federal level.”