Rep. Claudia Tenney (NY-24) met with seven local sheriffs Friday at a roundtable discussion in Oswego County about the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, which bans agreements with federal immigration authorities.
“USC 1373 actually is a federal law that prohibits obstruction of federal law enforcement when they’re trying to work with our local officials, so this is directly in opposition to everything that the sheriffs are trying to do in terms of keep our communities safe. Just like Local Cops, Local Crimes is also a violation of our federal law. We think that it makes our communities less safe,” Tenney said during the press conference.
However, Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she wants local police to focus on their own communities.
“Local police, local crimes, not conducting civil immigration enforcement, not chasing Stephen Miller’s inane deportation quotas,” Hochul said during a press conference last month.
Oswego, Lewis, Madison, Rensselaer, Saratoga, St. Lawrence and Wayne county’s sheriffs were in attendance, though only Madison, St. Lawrence and Rensselaer had the agreements in place.
“Myself, we don’t have a 287(g). I never pursued it, reason being, we have a border patrol station here in the county. We work well with them and I just didn’t feel the need for it. I don’t need a piece of paper to tell me to do what’s right for our citizens and keep them safe,” said Oswego County Sheriff Don Hilton.
Kyle Bourgault, Rensselaer County sheriff, said that since the implementation of their 287(g) agreement in 2018, they have turned over nine people to immigration officials.
“Now that may not seem like a large number, but if we can identify one individual through the course of this entire program that isn’t released back out to harm our community, it’s worth to me putting the effort in,” Bourgault said.
Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood said in the last year they have brought in about eight individuals that have committed violent crimes, including rape, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon.
Wayne County Sheriff Robert Milby said they have always had a good working relationship with federal authorities.
“Whether it be Border Patrol, whether it be ICE, we have strong communication with them and when they come out to do their job, I am aware of where they’re coming, what they’re doing,” Milby said.
Ultimately, he feels like this law prohibits sheriffs from doing their jobs.
“This was about overreach. This was about controlling not only the sheriffs but it’s also telling our local jurisdictions like my county board of supervisors that home rule is no longer being respected, and that they don’t have the ability to determine what contracts are good for Wayne County,” Milby said.