Overview
- The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act and the Dignity Not Detention Act took effect on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, banning 287(g) agreements and stopping public facilities from holding people only for civil immigration matters.
- The New York Attorney General's Office told 12 agencies to end existing 287(g) arrangements and gave its Office of Immigrant Trust the power to audit records, interview witnesses, and bring civil actions against noncompliant jurisdictions.
- The laws do not remove ICE's federal authority and explicitly allow local and state police to keep cooperating with federal authorities on criminal investigations and to follow court orders.
- The U.S. Department of Justice has an active federal challenge to the statutes and a judge denied the DOJ's request for a preliminary injunction on August 3, 2026, allowing New York to implement the bans while litigation proceeds.
- Some county leaders, notably in Nassau and Rensselaer, have vowed resistance to the new rules, raising the prospect of legal fights and operational strain as local agencies disentangle detention contracts and policing practices, which advocates say could increase immigrant willingness to report crime.