Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood rallies with members of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association at the Capitol on Tuesday. Hood is Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s running mate in the gubernatorial race.
Timothy Fanning
Broome County Sheriff Frederick Ashkar with members of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association at the Capitol on Tuesday. (Alexander MacDougall/Times Union)
Alexander MacDougall/Times Union
ALBANY — Sheriffs from across New York are taking a stand against Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed immigration protection measures, claiming they infringe on the ability of their agencies to protect and serve the public.
Earlier this month, Hochul announced several measures aimed at protecting immigrants in response to actions taken by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the administration of President Donald J. Trump. Those proposals come in addition to earlier proposed legislation, known as the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, introduced by the governor in January.
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Under the proposals, state and local law enforcement agencies would be prohibited from coordinating with federal immigration authorities on non-criminal violations. It would also prohibit police from entering voluntary agreements that allow for state or local resources, such as jails, to be used for federal immigration enforcement. They are known as 287(g) agreements after the section of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act.
The agreements allow local law enforcement to be deputized to assist the federal government on immigration matters and they also pledge turn over immigrants who are in their custody to ICE if they are being released.
The federal statute that authorizes the agreements was added to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which was adopted during the administration of President Bill Clinton. The federal legislation was amended in 2002 to authorize the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security — which was created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks — to enter into written agreements with state and local agencies “so that qualified personnel can perform certain functions of an immigration officer.”
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At the state Capitol on Tuesday, sheriffs from 12 New York counties led by Broome County Sheriff Frederick Akshar spoke out against the proposed state prohibitions, accusing Albany of interfering with sheriffs’ duties and independence. Eleven of the 12 sheriffs are Republicans, with Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter the lone Democrat among those in attendance.
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“We have seen an alarming and growing trend that should concern every single law-abiding New Yorker who values effective and accountable law enforcement,” said Akshar, a former state senator. “It’s the gradual expansion of state-sponsored directives that reach deeper and deeper into the day-to-day operations of local public safety agencies.”
Akshar decried Democratic lawmakers for making “sweeping changes” to law enforcement without properly consulting sheriffs, leading to bad policy, less safety and lower morale. He also said the proposed measures risked politicizing state and local police departments.
“We must not and cannot allow the erosion of the very independence that makes accountable meaningful,” Akshar said. “When current and continued government overreach begins to blur the lines between policy and policing, it risks turning public safety into a political instrument rather than community service.”
Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, who is running for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket alongside gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive, was also among the sheriffs present in criticizing the measures.
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“Cutting off communication between agencies makes everyone less safe,” Hood said. “Everything’s better when we work together in law enforcement and we are safer. Safe transfers should happen in secure jail settings, not on public streets. These proposals increase risk to officers, detainees and the public.”
In addition to the news conference, the New York State Sheriffs’ Association put out a statement calling for more open discussion and debate regarding the immigration proposals.
“Adopting important public policy changes in what amounts to a closed, secret process, is not a good way to do the people’s business,” the association stated. “We should have a seat at the table during such discussions.”
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Other New York sheriffs, including Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple and Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa, have previously expressed support for the governor’s proposed immigration measures.
“When families in my community are afraid to report a crime because of their immigration status, race, or ethnicity, we have failed them.,” Figueroa said in a statement in January supporting the governor’s proposals. “Our jails, our deputies, and our resources need to stay focused on the serious criminals who threaten our communities.”