Overview
- The Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which took effect Tuesday, prohibits local 287(g)-style agreements that deputize local officers for civil immigration enforcement and bars ICE from sensitive locations without a judicial warrant.
- State leaders have begun enforcing the law with subpoenas to county police and sheriff’s offices and filed a lawsuit seeking to void Rensselaer County’s agreement after that county refused to comply.
- Fifteen county sheriffs and the U.S. Department of Justice have filed separate federal suits arguing the state overstepped its authority, and judges have issued mixed preliminary rulings on parts of the law.
- Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said the county will unwind its ICE agreements but directed the sheriff to join the sheriffs’ federal lawsuit, reflecting the dispute’s role in the governor’s race.
- The 287(g) programs date to 1996 and vary widely in scope; critics cite local reporting that most people held under Nassau’s pact lacked violent convictions while supporters say the agreements were a tool to transfer jailed suspects to federal custody.