New York State
Hochul campaign quickly weaponizes immigrant announcement against Blakeman
Within hours of proposing a ban on local agreements with federal immigration officials, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign was using it to attack her likely Republican opponent’s’s support of ICE
Gov. Kathy Hochul laid out some of the details of what her Local Cops, Local Crimes Act on Friday. Rebecca C. Lewis
Officially, Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters that her new bid to outlaw formal 287(g) agreements between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement was not a shot at her likely Republican challenger. But that didn’t stop her campaign from quickly capitalizing on the governor’s announcement to ramp up its attacks on Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has made a point to tout his county’s comprehensive coordination with ICE.
Hochul’s campaign is unveiling a new attack ad against Blakeman for being “all in on ICE.” The video released Friday afternoon is a supercut of various instances Blakeman has espoused his support for ICE and his insistence that “ICE is doing a good job.” The video includes only Blakeman’s voice from the multitude of times he complimented or defended ICE, evidently allowing his words to speak for themselves at a time when outrage over immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis have hit a fever pitch.
In a press release accompanying the new ad, Hochul’s campaign brags that her new bill “will block Trump-Enablers like Blakeman from forcing local cops to participate in ICE’s abuses.” It accused Blakeman of “bending over backwards to praise ICE” while the governor has taken steps to stop immigration enforcement from “draining local police resources.”
At Friday’s earlier government press conference, Hochul surrounded herself with law enforcement leaders as she announced the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act. Although the proposal directly takes on ICE and would establish new protections for immigrants in the state, Hochul largely framed her pitch as one addressing public safety. It would appear that her campaign plans to run with that framing as it begins to go after Blakeman over immigration matters more earnestly.
Hochul also denied that she had politics in mind with the legislation. “I don’t accept the characterization that this is a shot at anybody,” she said when asked whether the proposal was meant to target Blakeman and his county’s agreement with ICE. “I’m doing this for my state… so this has nothing to do with running for office.”
Following the announcement, Blakeman released a statement from his campaign attacking Hochul over her proposed measure. “By banning local law enforcement partnerships with ICE, Hochul is allowing dangerous criminals to return to our neighborhoods,” he said. “That ends when I’m Governor.”