YORKTOWN HEIGHTS – Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY-17), joined by Assemblyman Matt Slater (R-C Yorktown), Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and the parents of slain Yorktown Heights teenager Sheridan Gorman, called Friday for the repeal of New York’s new sanctuary law, arguing it limits cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities.
The news conference was held at the Yorktown Police Department, where speakers criticized the state’s recently enacted “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act,” which they said prohibits local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities and threatens state law enforcement funding for agencies that do not comply.
Lawler urged Governor Kathy Hochul to call the Legislature back into session and repeal the law.
“This bill prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities and threatens to withhold state law enforcement funding from departments that refuse to comply,” Lawler said. “It is time to choose safety over sanctuary.”
The event centered on the death of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old Yorktown High School graduate and Loyola University Chicago freshman who was fatally shot in March while walking with friends near campus in Chicago. Authorities have charged a Venezuelan national who was in the United States illegally with her murder.
A spokesperson for Hochul said that the murder of Gorman “is a tragedy” and “if found guilty the man responsible should serve the maximum sentence and then be deported.”
The spokesperson also pushed back at Lawler.
“The way we keep New Yorkers safe is by focusing our local law enforcement on actual criminals, not assisting in ICE operations that harass innocent people and split apart families,” the spokesperson said. “While other elected officials choose to politicize this terrible crime, Governor Hochul has actually invested in public safety and continues to make New York safer.”
Hochul’s office noted that the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act prohibits state and local entities from entering into 287(g) agreements and civil immigration detention agreements. The law does not prevent the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision or local jails from coordinating with federal immigration authorities in criminal matters.
By law, per Hochul’s office, the state always notifies federal immigration authorities of any noncitizen serving a state prison sentence, and the spokesperson said her administration will continue to work with the federal government to pursue dangerous criminals.
Gorman’s parents, Tom and Jessica, both criticized Hochul’s policies.
“My beautiful 18-year-old daughter was murdered in cold blood by a man who never should have been in this country,” said Jessica Gorman. “A man our government had already encountered, already arrested, and still failed to remove, because the politicians we chose, leaders like Kathy Hochul, chose failed sanctuary policies over the safety of our American citizens.”