{"id":346150,"date":"2026-09-14T09:56:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/346150\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T09:56:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:56:40","slug":"rogue-sheriffs-revolt-against-new-york-law-ending-ice-partnerships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/346150\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogue Sheriffs Revolt Against New York Law Ending ICE Partnerships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the ICE occupation of the Twin Cities, the Trump administration\u2019s deportation machine has turned toward local law enforcement, through partnerships under the 287(g) program. Blue states are not happy about these agreements, for obvious reasons. In New York, Rensselaer County was the only county with a 287(g) agreement at the start of President Trump\u2019s second term. Since then, a dozen other law enforcement agencies across the state have formed their own partnerships with federal immigration authorities, deputizing local police to perform civil immigration enforcement functions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 287(g) program<\/a> has continued to expand<\/a> nationwide<\/a>, but if the state\u2019s elected leadership has anything to say about it, the program is coming to an end in New York.<\/p>\n

More from James Baratta<\/a><\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act (LCLCA) into law in May. The law, which went into effect<\/a> on August 25, effectively nullifies all 287(g) agreements in the state. But Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault subsequently sued<\/a> the governor in federal court, refusing to comply with the LCLCA and seeking injunctive relief to block the law. Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James promptly responded with a countersuit<\/a> in state court.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York banned this practice because we saw exactly where it leads: racial profiling, families torn apart over a traffic stop, and entire communities afraid to call 911,\u201d Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), told the Prospect. \u201cThis new lawsuit is an attempt to drag New York backwards, and we won\u2019t let that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to Rensselaer, 14 other New York county sheriff\u2019s departments have joined the federal lawsuit. The plaintiffs argue New York lacks standing to dissolve federally authorized 287(g) agreements in the state, going as far as to say that Albany is infringing on the sheriffs\u2019 authority. One such plaintiff, Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar, said last month<\/a> that the lawsuit \u201creally is about the associated independence and the constitutional authority that is granted to the office of the sheriff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Gov.New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks at a roundtable in response to federal ICE threats issued by border czar Tom Homan to send ICE agents to New York City, at New Immigrant Community Empowerment in New York, June 11, 2026. Credit: Lev Radin\/Sipa USA via AP Images.<\/p>\n

Local control and autonomy is indeed the issue at the heart of this case, but it isn\u2019t the first time county sheriffs have challenged<\/a> New York\u2019s authority to define their powers under state law, with several publicly admitting to not enforcing parts of the Concealed Carry Improvement Act in 2022. At its core, the litigation surrounding the LCLCA is yet another example of so-called constitutional sheriffs<\/a> challenging duly enacted state laws that they believe undermine the authority of their office. This movement regards sheriffs as the supreme legal authority at the county level, answering only to their electorate.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters in July<\/a>, Akshar said: \u201cI don\u2019t answer to Kathy Hochul. I don\u2019t answer to Tish James. I answer to the great people of Broome County who afforded me an opportunity to administer this office.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that any sheriff, \u201cwhether they signed a 287(g) agreement or they didn\u2019t, I think that that\u2019s where their frustration would certainly be rooted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terry Diggory, co-coordinator of the Saratoga Immigration Coalition, suspects that may be why Saratoga County Sheriff Jeffrey Brown joined the federal lawsuit challenging the LCLCA.<\/p>\n

\u201cSheriffs are very zealous of their independence, and so the issue for the sheriffs that are joining in the suit is not simply whether they want to be involved in immigration enforcement,\u201d Diggory said in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s also that they don\u2019t want the state or anybody else to tell them what they can do or put restraints on their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saratoga County does not participate in the 287(g) program. Neither does Albany County, which is not a plaintiff in the case. Yet in both counties, residents have shared accounts of informal collusion between local police and federal immigration authorities, namely at vehicle inspection checkpoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has happened in our area,\u201d Diggory said. \u201cLocal enforcement, as a safe public safety measure, will set up roadblocks where they\u2019ll stop people and check to make sure that they\u2019re wearing seatbelts, or they\u2019ll check to see whether their registration is up to date, and we know that in the past, ICE has sometimes been present at these checks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LCLCA expressly prohibits the deputization of local police for civil immigration enforcement under the 287(g) program. Contrary to what the rogue sheriffs argue, this practice makes communities less safe<\/a>. Victims of crime are much less likely to seek law enforcement help if local police are viewed as a periscope for ICE goons. The sheriffs\u2019 legal justifications for seeking the injunction are equally unconvincing.<\/p>\n

In the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, Judge Mae D\u2019Agostino issued an order to show cause on August 27, expediting her review of the injunction request. The Office of the New York Attorney General filed a brief challenging that request on September 9, arguing in part that D\u2019Agostino already answered questions over the plaintiff\u2019s contracts clause, supremacy clause, and preemption arguments when she rejected<\/a> the Justice Department\u2019s request to block the LCLCA in a separate lawsuit on August 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government did sue and lost on trying to upend the state of New York\u2019s ability to self-govern, and they were not able to roll back the 287(g) agreement ban,\u201d Awawdeh said. \u201cNow we have disgruntled local elected officials who are trying to grandstand in this moment, as opposed to doing what is supposed to be their job, which is to protect and serve the communities that they have been entrusted to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in its brief, the New York Attorney General\u2019s Office asserted that sheriffs\u2019 constitutional authority lies exclusively with the state, and effectively debunked the plaintiff\u2019s \u201creverse-commandeering theory.\u201d The attorney general, characterizing that theory as \u201cunprecedented,\u201d \u201cunsupported,\u201d and \u201cunpersuasive,\u201d argued that it neglects long-established anti-commandeering doctrine, and the fact that all 287(g) agreements must be consistent with state law. The plaintiffs have until the close of business on September 16 to reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re happy with the success of having fought for and secured the ending of the vast majority of the local collusion that we\u2019re seeing with civil immigration enforcement across the state of New York,\u201d Awawdeh told the Prospect. \u201cWe still have work to do, but we\u2019re pretty happy and content with where we ended up.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYIC is one of many advocacy groups<\/a> calling on state lawmakers to pass additional legislation, such as the New York for All Act,<\/a> to protect immigrant New Yorkers from the Trump administration\u2019s mass<\/a> deportation<\/a> machine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about cruelty,\u201d Awawdeh said. \u201cThat\u2019s their point.\u201d<\/p>\n

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