Fifteen New York country sheriffs filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the state’s “Local Cops, Local Crimes Act” and the newly created Office of Immigrant Trust for being unconstitutional efforts to prevent them from working with federal immigration officers to ensure public safety.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York on behalf of the 15 sheriffs who have existing 287(g) agreements to cooperate with federal agencies that enforce the nation’s immigration laws.
They also filed an emergency motion seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop New York from voiding existing 287(g) agreements on August 25, 2026, and from forcing the termination of federal housing agreements by November 25, 2026.
The new “Local Cops, Local Laws Act,” which was promoted and signed by Democrat New York Governor Kathy Hochul, prohibits local law enforcement agencies and local correctional facilities from entering into, remaining in, or extending 287(g) agreements or contracts to house individuals for civil immigration violations, the lawsuit explains:
“It declares existing agreements ‘not consistent with state law’ and ‘void and unenforceable,’ and it requires that 287(g) agreements be terminated by August 25, 2026. For agreements to house or detain individuals for federal immigration violations, the statute requires agencies to exercise any applicable termination provision within three months after August 25, 2026. Those housing agreements will thus become void and unenforceable on November 25, 2026.”
In addition to endangering public safety by enabling dangerous criminals to run free, Gov. Hochul’s two sanctuary provisions also rob local sheriffs of authorities granted them by both New York’s constitution and the U.S. Constitution, the lawsuit charges.
“New York’s county sheriffs are independently elected constitutional officers under Article XIII, § 13 of the New York Constitution. They are not subordinates or agents of the Governor or the Attorney General,” the complaint notes. Additionally, the provisions void existing legal contracts.
New York’s efforts to protect illegal aliens, including violent criminals, are nothing new.
Last December, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that, during the year, New York had refused to honor U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest detainer requests for – and then released – thousands of criminal illegal aliens that were in the state’s custody:
“New York’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens since January 20. The crimes of these aliens include 29 homicides, 2,509 assaults, 199 burglaries, 305 robberies, 392 dangerous drugs offenses, 300 weapons offenses, and 207 sexual predatory offenses.
“There are currently 7,113 aliens in the custody of a New York jurisdiction with an active detainer. The crimes of these aliens include 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses.”
“Instead of partnering with ICE, New York’s sanctuary politicians double down on irresponsible policies that make New York less safe,” ICE warned in a June 10, 2026 press release touting the success of a targeted enforcement operation to apprehend known criminal illegal aliens in the New York City metropolitan area:
“ICE Fugitive Operations teams arrested criminal illegal aliens convicted of violent and repulsive crimes including murder, rape, sexual abuse of a child under 11, forcible touching of sexual or intimate parts of another person and sexual contact with a person incapable of consent.”
“While sanctuary politicians continue to prioritize criminal illegal aliens over law abiding New Yorkers, our officers are on the front lines every day keeping our communities safe from murderers, rapists and pedophiles that prey on our most vulnerable citizens,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo promised in a statement.
