A City Council bill would prevent undocumented immigrants who are not defendants in criminal cases from being turned over to federal immigration officials after their release from jail.

A new bill that would limit the cooperation between local jails and federal immigration enforcement was introduced in the New York City Council on Wednesday. A story from our partner, WNYC.

In an unusual turn of events, Ricardo Muñiz was released after 20 months of detention at Rikers Island Prison following his acquittal, despite being placed in the Criminal Alien Program which reports undocumented immigrants to federal authorities.

Newly released data from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement reaffirms that the majority of deportees since 2008 have been people with no criminal background or those guilty of minor offenses.