“LOCAL POLICE MUST NOT ASSIST FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENTS”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, GOV. KATHY HOCHUL SAYS HER NEW MEASURE WILL KEEP NEW YORKERS SAFE… AS OPPONENTS WARN THE POLICY UNDERMINES PUBLIC SAFETY.
On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul defended a controversial new measure known as the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act.
The state law prohibits local police departments from cooperating with federal immigration agents.
Under the measure, local jails are banned from temporarily holding illegal immigrants for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
A press release from Hochul stated that the legislation “ensures that law enforcement resources are directed toward local public safety priorities.”
The governor’s release also claimed the law will “keep New Yorkers safe from federal overreach.”
Hochul issued a direct warning to any law enforcement entity that chooses not to follow the new rules.
“Any police department or sheriff’s office that disobeys this law,” Hochul stated, “will face legal action.”
The governor argued that municipal officers must dedicate their time solely to local jurisdiction concerns.
“We need local police focused on thwarting local crimes,” Hochul claimed.
Hochul also pointed to county safety metrics to argue that formal federal partnerships remain unnecessary.
She noted that out of 53 counties without formal 287(g) agreements, “seven are among the 25 safest communities in America, demonstrating that 287(g) agreements are non-essential to improving safety.”
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But critics assert that barring cooperation between local officers and federal agents directly undermines public safety.
Federal agents focus their efforts primarily on removing criminals from the streets and deporting them from the country.
Towns across Long Island continue to deal with violent migrant gangs such as MS-13.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, Hochul’s Republican gubernatorial rival, has actively opposed the governor’s stance.
Blakeman has supported coordination between county law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
“We got rid of 2,000 illegal migrants with criminal records in Nassau County without raiding a church, a school, a daycare center, a hospital, because we cooperated with ICE,” Blakeman noted.
Federal reporting indicates widespread releases across the state.
In December, the Department of Homeland Security reported that New York has released 7,000 illegal migrant criminals without notifying ICE since President Donald Trump took office.
Blocking local cooperation forces ICE to execute broader operations across immigrant communities.
Those operations leave municipal police responsible for managing standoffs between federal agents and activists attempting to block enforcement.
And the state measure raises questions regarding the boundaries of the United States Constitution.
Under the Constitution, federal law holds priority over state legislation.
Prohibiting law enforcement cooperation could potentially test constitutional limits and amount to obstruction.
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