More than a dozen New York sheriffs have launched a federal court challenge to a new state law that blocks local law enforcement from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on civil immigration enforcement, directly confronting Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul after she publicly dared them to "bring it on."
The lawsuit, led by Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault, contends that Albany has overstepped its authority by restricting sheriffs from entering into federally sanctioned immigration-enforcement agreements. According to Fox News, the complaint argues that the statute is unconstitutional because it interferes with federal immigration powers and unlawfully curtails the discretion of elected lawmen to work with federal partners on border-related matters.
Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin framed the dispute in stark terms, accusing the governor of siding with criminals over law-abiding citizens. "Today, Kathy Hochul escalated her administrations war on the police and she expanded polices to put criminals before the citizens of New York," McLaughlin said on Tuesday.
At the center of the clash is the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, signed by Hochul in May and now in effect, which bars state and local agencies from partnering with federal authorities on civil immigration enforcement. The measure also prohibits new contracts to house civil immigration detainees and forces existing detention agreements to be wound down within three months under their termination clauses.
Under the law, police may still assist ICE in cases involving violent offenses or other non-immigration crimes, but they are forbidden from devoting local resources to civil immigration matters. Supporters of the statute have framed it as a repudiation of what they call President Donald Trumps mass deportation agenda, while critics see it as a sanctuary-style shield for illegal immigrants, including those with criminal histories.
Hochul has responded to the sheriffs defiance with threats of legal action against any locality that refuses to dismantle its ICE cooperation agreements. Her stance has set up a direct confrontation with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, her Republican challenger, whose county is among those that maintain such partnerships with federal immigration authorities.
"No county executive should think that they are above the law in the state of New York," Hochul said at a press conference on Tuesday. She warned that any police department or sheriffs office that ignores the statute and continues working with ICE on civil immigration enforcement will face lawsuits from the state.
The governor also took aim at the sheriffs and local officials preparing to challenge the law in court, dismissing their efforts as a rerun of past failures. "And to those suing us, those trying to block the implementation of this law whove tried before and failed, our law has already been upheld by the courts, but if you try me again, I say, bring it on," Hochul declared.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has moved in lockstep with Hochul, issuing subpoenas to agencies that either refused to confirm they would end their ICE agreements or provided what her office deemed inadequate responses. The subpoenas went to the sheriffs offices in Broome, Steuben, Nassau and Rensselaer counties, as well as the Nassau County Police Department, signaling a coordinated effort to pressure local law enforcement into compliance.
A spokesperson for James office told CBS News that if these agencies do not comply with the subpoenas, the attorney general is prepared to file a civil suit. The aggressive posture from state officials underscores the widening rift between progressive leaders in Albany and local law enforcement agencies that insist cooperation with ICE is essential to public safety.
Hochul has tried to justify the restrictions by narrowing the circumstances under which local officers may work with federal immigration authorities. She has said law enforcement will assist ICE "only if a real crime has been committed" and that officers cannot divert resources to civil immigration matters that do not involve separate criminal conduct.
In a rhetorical flourish aimed at rallying progressive supporters, Hochul argued that local police should not be involved in routine immigration enforcement. "Because we need local cops hunting down criminals, not kindergartners. Breaking up drug rings, not breaking up families. Arresting gun runners, not grandmas," Hochul said.
Blakeman, who held a dueling press conference as Hochul spoke, declined to say publicly whether he would comply with the states directive, but later told the New York Post he would "probably" join the sheriffs lawsuit. He has repeatedly defended Nassau Countys cooperation with ICE, asserting at a recent event with Trump that roughly 2,000 illegal immigrants in his county have criminal records.
In that appearance, Blakeman challenged Hochul to explain where she expects dangerous offenders and contraband to go if localities sever ties with federal immigration authorities. "Kathy Hochul, where do you want those guns? What neighborhood do you want to destroy? Where do you want those drugs? What community do you want to destroy? Where do you want those illegal immigrants with criminal records to live? You want it back in New York? We say no," Blakeman said at the time.
The Department of Homeland Security has also weighed in, rebuking Hochuls policy as a political maneuver that undermines safety. Hochul, the department said, "must stop putting politics above public safety."
A DHS spokesperson, speaking to the New York Post, warned that sidelining ICE and tying the hands of local sheriffs will have predictable consequences for communities already grappling with crime and an unchecked border. "This type of insanity leads to more crimes and more innocent victims," the spokesperson told the New York Post.
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