Partisan rift deepens over NY immigration law

As state leaders took the first step to force local police to comply with a new law banning them from working with federal immigration officials, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman blasted the policy with the family of an 18-year-old from Yorktown who was killed in Chicago by an undocumented man earlier this year.

Blakeman on Friday stood with the parents of Sheridan Gorman, a Loyola University Chicago freshman who died in March. “Stop normalizing what happened to Sheridan Gorman – it’s not normal,” Blakeman said at the campaign event in Yorktown, in Westchester County. “When I become governor, the first executive order I will sign on day one is: New York state is no longer a sanctuary state.”

Blakeman, who is also the Nassau County executive, and Gorman’s family were additionally joined by Rep. Mike Lawler, who’s facing one of the nation’s toughest reelection bids in the battleground 17th Congressional District. Both were moved to tears by Gorman’s parents.

“Elections decide whether laws are enforced, whether police are empowered and whether families like ours are protected, or whether they’re left to bury the consequences,” Jessica Gorman said.

At almost the same time, state Attorney General Letitia James’ office sent letters to 12 local law enforcement agencies that have formal partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as a 287(g) agreement. Agencies included the Nassau County Police Department and the Madison County Sheriff's Department, led by Blakemans’ running mate Todd Hood. The agreements can include sharing information, deputizing local police officers to enforce civil immigration law or using local jails for immigration enforcement. A new law expanding protections for immigrants will require all 12 agencies to end their partnerships with ICE by Aug. 25. 

All 12 agencies must respond to the letter about the status of their agreement by Aug. 14. 

The new law has stirred controversy and drawn the attention of the federal government. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Hochul and James over the policy last month. State officials filed a counter federal suit as a defensive mechanism, asking the court to uphold the legislative package as a defensive measure on the same day. 

Blakeman said he has spoken with other county officials who have similar agreements, and they’re exploring their separate legal options to react to the legislation. He added he has not taken action to change his county’s 287(g) agreement to date. “The lawyers for our police department and sheriff’s department are reviewing the law and the attorney general’s letter, and we will have a written response by Aug. 14,” Blakeman told City & State in a statement after the Yorktown event.  

Immigration policies at both the state and federal level remain at the forefront of the gubernatorial race and high-stakes midterm elections – especially as Republicans vie to maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“If you don’t want ICE to be a necessity, if you don’t want ICE to be surging in your communities, it’s very simple: Seal the border and cooperate when it comes to criminal aliens,” Lawler said. “Then you really won’t have any of these issues.” 

Hochul’s office argued that the new immigration law, called the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act, bars local police from entering into 287(g) agreements, but does not prohibit the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, nor local jails, from coordinating with ICE in criminal matters. If New York’s new policy had been in effect in Illinois, it would not have affected the jail's ability to turn over a detainee to ICE in the case of Sheridan Gorman, according to Hochul’s office.

"The murder of Sheridan Gorman is a tragedy, and if found guilty the man responsible should serve the maximum sentence and then be deported,” a spokesperson with Hochul’s office said in a statement. “But 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.”