Hochul proposes banning local cooperation with ICE

Gov. Kathy Hochul still hasn’t thrown her weight behind the New York for All Act – but she has now proposed her own bill to enact one of the key components of that immigration protection legislation.

While flanked by law enforcement officials at a press conference on Friday, the governor proposed outlawing what are known as 287(g) agreements, which are formal cooperation agreements between local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These agreements can vary from allowing local jails to house immigrants wanted for civil enforcement matters to deputizing police to carry out the duties of an ICE agent. Currently, 11 municipalities have entered into such agreements with the federal government, with Nassau County’s task force agreement easily the most high-profile and controversial. Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is currently running for governor, has repeatedly bragged about the agreement. 

Hochul dubbed her proposal the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, emphasizing that police officers don’t need to assist ICE with civil immigration enforcement in order to keep communities safe. “(ICE) has over $85 billion at their disposal … so they have what they need,” Hochul said at her Manhattan office on Friday. “So don’t buy the argument we have to be there because ICE needs help … We have other responsibilities for our local law enforcement.” To drive home that point, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox both spoke at the press conference, which also featured four of New York City’s five district attorneys. “We're sending a strong message to ICE: You will not weaponize local police officers against their own communities in the state of New York,” Hochul said. 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the policy would make New York less safe. “Our partnerships with state and local law enforcement are key to removing criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from American communities,” she said in a statement. “When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with us, that is when we have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities.” McLaughlin also called on Hochul to turn over what she called over 7,000 “heinous criminals” currently held on detainer in New York. The governor said on Friday that the state will still cooperate with immigration officials to apprehend dangerous criminals.

The governor cited the deaths of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal immigration agents in Minneapolis as an inflection point, while using strong language to condemn the actions of the federal government. “New Yorkers are feeling traumatized and stunned as they watch federal agents carry out unspeakable acts of violence in a country they no longer recognize,” she said, reiterating her call for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to resign and accusing the administration of trying to “rewrite” reality. “What has become so apparent is that this is not just about immigration policy,” Hochul said. “This is about blatant, dangerous abuse of power.”

Hochul’s proposal to ban 287(g) agreements is a notable shift for her after she declined on numerous occasions to take a position on the New York for All Act. The legislation pushed for by immigrant advocates would, among other things, also ban those agreements, which are currently one of the only ways for local law enforcement to legally work with ICE on civil enforcement. In the past, Hochul has shied away from impeding local authority with a sweeping statewide policy like this. 

The sponsors of the New York for All Act, state Sen. Andrew Gounardes and Assembly Member Karines Reyes, called Hochul’s proposal “a good first step,” but pointed out where their legislation would go further to protect immigrant New Yorkers. “Even without 287(g) agreements, local law enforcement are able to share information with ICE, allow ICE officers into government facilities, and notify ICE about people in local custody,” the pair of lawmakers said in a statement. “Our New York For All Act is the strongest way for us to guarantee that safety.”

When asked what stopped her from supporting the New York for All Act, Hochul said it never passed both houses of the Legislature for her to consider. But she acknowledged for the first time that she supports aspects of what the bill proposes to do. “Yes, there are elements that are certainly important, and I want to have the conversations with the Legislature,” Hochul said. “New York for All originated with the Legislature, so we'll be having conversations as we go forward.” She had previously proposed a few other immigrant-related measures in her State of the State and budget proposal, and she said conversations around immigrant protections have been ongoing since December, even though the ban on 287(g) agreements did not make it into either the State of the State address or budget proposal. “This is not the end of the conversation,” Hochul said. 

The governor denied that her decision to ban local cooperation agreements with ICE, and to specifically call out  Nassau County’s ICE agreement, had anything to do with Blakeman’s challenge. “I don't accept the characterization that this is a shot against anybody,” Hochul said. “I'm doing this for my state.” 

Blakeman blasted Hochul’s announcement in a statement. “Kathy Hochul is the most pro-criminal governor in the United States who has a callous disregard for the safety of our communities and victims of crime,” he said. “By banning local law enforcement partnerships with ICE, Hochul is allowing dangerous criminals to return to our neighborhoods. That ends when I’m Governor.” Blakeman claimed that 287(g) agreements have allowed local police to hold convicted criminals for ICE pickup and banning them would make communities less safe.

Where Blakeman criticized Hochul for tying the hands of law enforcement, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, her left-wing primary challenger, asserted the governor didn’t go far enough to end cooperation with ICE. “After months of us pressuring the governor to support #NewYorkforAll, this still falls short,” Delgado wrote on X,, noting Hochul’s proposal doesn’t appear to include provisions to explicitly ban local police from asking for immigration status and limiting all forms of information sharing. “It covers contracts. Not cooperation.”

In addition to banning formal 287(g) agreements, the governor announced that her prior pitch to designate schools, houses of worship and health care facilities as “sensitive locations” for the purposes of immigration enforcement would also now extend to private homes. If approved, that would mean ICE agents couldn’t enter someone’s house without a warrant signed by a judge. That designation is another significant aspect of the New York for All Act.

While her pitch still does not appear to go as far as New York for All, it still earned Hochul some praise from immigrant advocates. “This is great progress and we’re moving in the right direction,” Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, told City & State. “This is definitely commendable, and we need to continue to move forward, to deliver on the rest of New York for All.” Awawdeh attended the announcement in Manhattan but was not at the podium with Hochul during the program.

Other groups struck a similar tone. “This announcement is critical for New Yorkers, like me, who have fought to end the collusion between the police and ICE,” Make the Road member and Long Island resident Desyi H said in a statement. “Our relentless organizing is working, and we are ready to continue to fight to pass the New York for All Act to ensure our county will no longer collude with ICE.” New York Working Families Party Co-directors Jasmine Gripper and Ana María Archila called Hochul’s proposal “a very significant step to protect immigrant New Yorkers.”

The move also comes as state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has publicly thrown her support behind the “goals” of New York for All for the first time. This week, she told reporters that she would like to get additional immigration protections passed “sooner rather than later.” Hochul’s will introduce her proposal as a program bill next week that is not tied to the budget, leaving the door open to swift action if she and legislative leaders can come to an agreement. “We will review these most recent proposals, but these sound like meaningful steps forward,” Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “I have made it clear that we must enact policies and legislation that will protect our brothers and sisters of the immigrant community including the goals and principles of New York for All.”